One Year Before
by Peonywinx
Summary: Now that Brainy's left, the rest of Legion have to move on with their lives. But with a resurrected Brainiac 1.0 formulating a new evil plan, and a hidden destiny of great importance shrouding one of the Legionnaires, danger lurks at every corner...
1. Trouble's Brewing

_**A/N: All right, I couldn't wait till tomorrow to post this up. Sue me. But you can't honestly say you're disappointed? I defend myself by quoting, "Better late than never, better early that late." Many thanks to **1000GreenSun, ClUeLeSs **(you know who you are!), **xXKazaneXx, G. Login, Kitren, Movie-Brat, iwishtobelovely, The Violet Rose, **and **RiverLake **for reviewing on my story, **The Threat of the Ruby, **which is the sequel to this. Feel free to check it out. Anyway, I leave you now to enjoy **this **story.**  
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**ONE YEAR BEFORE  
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**Prologue**

Kell-el stood by the swirling vortex, warp key in hand. Surrounding him was most of the entire Legion, including a happily reunited trio of Triplicate Girls, who were holding onto each other's hands so tightly it was as if they would never let go.

"I guess this is it", said Kell-el, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, guess so." Lightning Lad was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Remember, you're a Legionnaire now, so we have the right to drop in on you in the 41st century and ask for your help", Superman warned him.

A brief smile crossed Kell-el's face. "I think I can handle that." He stared into the vortex for a while before clearing his throat. "Well – goodbye, then", he said, a bit awkwardly.

"Take care", Saturn Girl said sincerely.

"Yeah, bye", Chameleon Boy added.

One by one, the other Legionnaires added their goodbyes, and when everyone had said what they wanted to say, Kell-el turned to look one last time at the group of people who had become his teammates before disappearing into the vortex.

There was silence for a bit before the newly-human Brainiac 5 said, "It's time for me to say goodbye as well."

There was an instant buzz of excited chatter.

"You're leaving?" Phantom Girl exclaimed.

"What on earth for?" Bouncing Boy demanded.

"Where are you going?" asked Shrinking Violet.

"This isn't because of that whole business with your mad ancestor, is it?" queried Chameleon Boy suspiciously.

"No", Brainy assured him. "It's simply…I need time to sort out my thoughts. Becoming human has…flooded many emotions into me that I'm not quite prepared to deal with just yet. I need some time off, by myself." He looked at them. "I don't know when I'll come back…but I will. That's a promise." It was then he took out a teleportation device. "Well, goodbye. I hope I'll see you again soon."

"Same here, Brainy", the Triplicates said, hugging him tightly.

"Take care", added Superman.

Cosmic Boy, after struggling with himself for a minute, surprised them all when he spoke.

"Don't take too long, okay?"

Brainy smiled and operated the teleporter, and in a flash, he was gone.

"I'll take that as my cue to leave", said Superman. He took out his time-warp, which he still had from his first visit to the future, and waved at them all. There were more goodbyes and hugs, and then, Superman too, returned to his own time.

The rest of the Legion remained there quietly for a while. Then, slowly, they began to disperse. Only Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Bouncing Boy, Timber Wolf, Triplicate Girl, and Phantom Girl were left. Then they too, slowly walked away. It was time to pick up the pieces, and start over.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Brainiac 1.0 wandered alone, in the deep, dark space. His robotic lip curled in a sinister smile as he saw the planet he was looking for loom up ahead of him. Takron Galtose. The prison planet. The beginning of his revenge – and his ultimate plan. His smile turned into a sneer as his thoughts turned to Earth – and its inhabitants. Humans were such a pathetic race - stupid, illogical, and extremely near-sighted. That was why they never understood why he did what he did. In the long-term, he knew, chaos and evil were order.

There was also something else on Earth. Legion HQ. The Headquarters of that lousy Legion. Superman was a part of that Legion, and he had stopped him more than once in the 21st century. His descendant (how had he spawned such a weak being?), Brainiac 5, was a Legionnaire, and he had foiled his plans once again. Stupid child. He had gone back to his weakling, do-gooder ways. But then, he was irked at the entire Legion. If it weren't for the other Legionnaires, and Superman in particular, Brainiac 5 would have remained as he should have been: locked away in a corner of his own mind, under his complete control.

But now, yes now, he would have his revenge. He had a plan. And it would succeed – he had calculated that the likelihood of his failure was zero percent.

"Evil does not die", he said softly, chillingly. "It evolves. And evil will triumph."

* * *

Phantom Girl frowned as she looked over the Legion crime log. There had been a suspicious lack of criminals lately.

"What's up?" Timber Wolf asked, coming in and noticing her frown.

"What's down is more like it. Look at these." She brandished the reports in his face.

"So the crime rate's down", said Timber Wolf, looking puzzled. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Maybe." Phantom Girl looked thoughtful. "But there should be more criminal activity. Two months and only one issue of a petty street thief and a break-in at the bank which was resolved easily." She frowned. "It doesn't seem right."

"You're being paranoid", Timber Wolf told her. "The crime rate's coming down, that's all. I mean, all the supervillains are locked away in Takron Galtose, and the Legion of Substitute Heroes was busy teaching all the minor villains a lesson while we were away. Maybe they finally got the message."

"Yes, but I can't shake the feeling something's not very right", she persisted.

Timber Wolf sighed. Obviously he was not going to dissuade her from this line of thought. "All right, maybe it isn't a good thing. We'll deal with the latest break-out from Takron Galtose or the most recent supervillain bank robbery when the issues arise. For now, though, I'm glad there hasn't been much going on. It's a welcome change." He turned to leave the room. "Care to join me for a coffee?"

Phantom Girl cast one last glance at the papers before shrugging her shoulders. "Why not?"

* * *

"You're mad", Emerald Empress said flatly.

Brainiac 1.0 looked at her very carefully. "I suggest you watch your words, Venegarian. I assure you I am not insane. It is a perfectly logical plan."

The Empress chuckled derisively. "Logical? Busting us out of jail and launching a full-scale attack on Earth is logical? Well, you'll excuse me if I say that's the most illogical thing I've ever heard."

"Do you think me a fool?" Brainiac 1.0 asked with the tiniest hint of menace in his mechanical voice. "I have laid out my plans with extreme care and I have calculated its possibility of failure."

"Which is?" Tharok enquired from the next cell.

"Zero percent."

* * *

Nine Legionnaires relaxed on the couches in the living room of Legion HQ, enjoying a well-deserved break. Bouncing Boy was watching the monitors, but more out of habit than anything – his eyes kept flicking to his holopad to read. The three Triplicate Girls were playing three-way chess. Timber Wolf and Phantom Girl were also browsing through the data on their holopads. Saturn Girl was situated at the monitors, the fingers of one hand on the keyboard, the other hand busily scrolling down a screen on her holopad. And Lightning Lad, though he had a holopad on his lap too, was busier watching Saturn Girl while trying to deal with a strange feeling.

"It's just like old times, isn't it?" Bouncing Boy commented as he returned his glance to the monitors.

"Not really", Saturn Girl said quietly. Lightning Lad suddenly remembered that Saturn Girl had been Brainy's main supporter when he had auditioned for the Legion. The rest of them had thought he was a bit too young, but she had vouched for him, and had been quite close to the Coluan native. And now he'd left.

_She must be feeling pretty down,_ he realized.

Bouncing Boy picked up on her quiet answer and said no more. Changing the subject, he said, "It's a bit strange that we haven't had an alarm since Kell-el went home, isn't it?"

"Maybe it's just the city agreeing that we deserve a break", Lightning Lad joked.

Saturn Girl suddenly sat up, alert, just as the monitors flashed and the alarm rang out.

"I think you spoke too soon", Phantom Girl told Lightning Lad.

"What do we have?" asked Timber Wolf as he crossed the room in two quick strides to look at the monitors.

"It's the Fatal Five", Saturn Girl informed him. "They've broken out of Takron Galtose."

"Again?" Bouncing Boy asked disbelievingly. "Why can't they ever just stay put?"

"Hold on", said Saturn Girl, as her fingers tapped the keyboard. "They're not alone. The Legion of Supervillains is out too."

"What?" chorused the three Triplicates, having abandoned their chess game.

"Anybody else realize how very familiar this is?" asked Lightning Lad.

"No time to speculate about that now, Lightning Lad", Phantom Girl said as she and the others raced for the door.

They encountered Validus just outside Legion HQ. He was tramping all over, striking everything with his mental lightning. Saturn Girl flew up to him to put him to sleep, but something knocked her out of the air.

"Can't let you do that", said Tharok as he emerged from behind the giant, his cannon arm smoking.

Bouncing Boy inflated and bowled Tharok over before the cyborg knew what was happening while Lightning Lad fired an electrical charge at Validus. Validus crashed to the ground and Tharok was flattened.

"What do we do with them now?" Bouncing Boy asked as he deflated to his normal size again.

"The Science Police are right over there, and heading this way", said Lightning Lad, pointing. "We can let them take care of these two while we go after the rest."

"Do we split up?" asked Timber Wolf.

"Might not be a bad idea", Lightning Lad agreed.

"I'll take the north side", volunteered Saturn Girl, brushing herself off. "There was a disturbance there."

"I'll come with you", Phantom Girl offered.

They flew off in different directions. Lightning Lad and Timber Wolf soon encountered Tyr and Ron-Karr wreaking havoc downtown, terrifying the citizens and destroying property. Tyr saw the two Legionnaires coming and smiled maliciously up at them.

"Well, well, we meet again."

"So we do, although after last time, I really didn't want to see your ugly face again", mocked Lightning Lad.

Tyr's face contorted in a vicious scowl. "You'll be sorry for that."

"Don't think I will", Lightning Lad shot at him as his hands sizzled with electricity.

"We'll see." Tyr drew back his fist for a punch while Timber Wolf tackled Ron-Karr.

* * *

Triplicate Girl didn't have to fly very far to find Wave and Persuader. Wave saw her first and said maliciously, "Oh, look, Persuader, there's a little girl here."

Triplicate Girl immediately split into three. She only succeeded in evicting a second response from Wave: "Oh, my mistake, there are _three _little girls here."

The Trips knew enough not to get riled, and they simply ran at Wave and kicked her down. While the blue-haired villain recovered, the trio skipped and hopped around Persuader, confusing him before finally converging on his midriff as one and knocking the wind out of him.

By this time Wave had gotten up and her tentacles of hair were groping and grasping at the air threateningly. The Trips, spotting a demolished signboard above Wave's head, quickly concocted a strategy. Purple Body and White Body lifted Orange Body up, and the latter jumped even higher into the air and kicked the signboard (which was only hanging by some bits of scrap metal) down onto Wave's head, knocking her out cold.

Unfortunately, Persuader, having recovered, swiped his axe at Orange Body and brought her down while Purple Body and White Body ducked to avoid the weapon. Then the two of them picked up the signboard and hurled it with all their strength at Persuader's head.

Their volley struck true; Persuader looked dazed for a moment, then he toppled to the ground. Allowing the nearby Science Police to take care of the villains, the two Triplicates helped their orange sister up before flying off again.

* * *

Flying north, Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl spotted the disturbance the former had talked about: Esper, Emerald Empress, and Mano – probably the biggest and most destructive division. Esper was busy mind-blasting the citizens and Science Police; the Eye of Ekron was destroying the roads with explosions of green cosmic energy while its owner looted the jewelry stores; and Mano was destroying everything in sight with his deadly touch.

"Figures I'd sense you", Saturn Girl said to Esper, as she and Phantom Girl dropped out of the sky.

"Hello, Saturn Girl", said Esper calmly, mockingly. "Ready for another several months in a hospital bed?"

"No", replied Saturn Girl coolly as she alighted. "But I am ready to send you back to jail", she added as her eyes glowed pink.

"We'll see", said Esper, her eyes glowing too, as both emitted powerful telepathic waves.

Phantom Girl, meanwhile, after a debate about who was the greater danger, was preventing Mano from dissolving the rest of the area by jumping around him and phasing to intangibility whenever he tried to touch her.

"Hold still, you little ghost", said Mano as he swiped his lethal right hand through the air to encounter nothing.

"Ghost?" repeated Phantom Girl, affronted. Becoming solid once more, she kicked him in the shins. "I really hate being called that", she said, by way of explanation as Mano yelped in pain. Since he was distracted, and since his head was more of a helmet, she seized the opportunity to deliver a knock-out punch to his neck with her fist before going after Emerald Empress.

* * *

Lightning Lad looked down in satisfaction at the body beneath his foot.

"Ready to give up yet?" he asked Tyr, who was clawing at his leg.

Although weakened by their fight, Tyr was still as arrogant.

"Bah!" he spat. "Not to you."

Then something started beeping. Tyr cracked a wicked smile and, somehow reaching his right arm across Lightning Lad's foot, he operated a watch on his left wrist that Lightning Lad hadn't noticed before, and vanished. Lightning Lad, thrown off balance by the nonexistent body that had been under his foot, toppled and fell. Brushing himself off, he saw that Ron-Karr had disappeared too, and Timber Wolf was standing alone where the two of them had been dueling.

"How did they –"

"Vanish?" Timber Wolf finished Lightning Lad's question. "They've acquired a teleportation device – one for each of them, by the looks of it."

"That's impossible!" cried Lightning Lad. "How could they possibly get that much money for an individual teleportation device each?"

Timber Wolf looked grave. "I don't know. But it's bad. Especially since they disappeared right after their watches started beeping."

Lightning Lad looked at Timber Wolf and knew that they were both having the same thought. Something was very wrong, they could feel it.

Timber Wolf scanned the sky anxiously. "Something's happened."

* * *

Hunter grunted as he was forced to the ground by the giant blue ball that was Bouncing Boy.

"Oi!" he yelled. "Would you hold still, you plump little weasel? I've got better things to do than hang around and get knocked off my feet by a giant ball."

"Yes, you do", Bouncing Boy agreed as he inflated and crashed into Hunter again. "You can go back to Takron Galtose."

Hunter got to his feet and managed to pin Bouncing Boy to the ground with his axe. "Now, you bouncing little – eh?" he broke off, as a device on his wrist that resembled a watch suddenly started beeping. Hunter looked disappointed, but he grinned evilly, causing Bouncing Boy to feel very worried.

"Ach, guess I'll have to forgo crushing you this time, eh?" he said, lowering his axe. "But no worries, I'll have an opportunity soon enough." And with that, he pressed a button on the watch-like device and disappeared.

Feeling a growing sense of apprehension - for whatever made Hunter smile and teleport without completely defeating him would not be good - Bouncing Boy flew up into the air, trying to contact his teammates with his Legion ring.

"Bouncing Boy to Lightning Lad, do you copy?" he asked.

"Yeah, I copy", said Lightning Lad's hologram. "What's wrong, Bouncing Boy?"

"Hunter just disappeared for no reason", Bouncing Boy said.

Somewhere in the background, Timber Wolf's deep, husky voice asked, "Did his watch beep before he teleported?"

"How'd you know he had a beeping watch?" asked Bouncing Boy in surprise.

"Because Tyr and Ron-Karr just did the same thing", replied Lightning Lad.

"And it can't be good", added Timber Wolf's voice.

* * *

"Look, there's Phantom Girl", said Triplicate Girl's White Body, pointing to where their teammate was wrestling with Emerald Empress.

"Wasn't she supposed to be with Saturn Girl?" asked Orange Body, not seeing the telepath anywhere near.

"Maybe they got split up", said White Body.

"Hey!" exclaimed Purple Body. "Emerald Empress disappeared!"

"What?" said her sisters.

"Look!" said Purple Body. "There's nobody there, except Phantom Girl."

"This isn't good", said Orange Body.

They landed next to Phantom Girl. "What happened?" asked Purple Body.

Phantom Girl looked up. "They've got Saturn Girl."

* * *

**_A/N: Cliffy! Sorry to do this, guys, but it's a good story technique - keeps people interested, you know? Anyway, you'd better get used to it, because most of my chapters end in a cliff-hanger one way or the other. Still, I'll be updating daily - that's right, daily - so you won't have to wait very long. Chapter 2 coming tomorrow!_**

**Disclaimer: And here we are again at the necessary disclaimer. Sigh. Still, it's only the first time on this story, so I'll be good. I don't own _Legion of Superheroes_.**


	2. Who's the Mastermind?

**Chapter 2**

"Let me get this straight. Esper overpowered Saturn Girl and disappeared with her after her watch started beeping?"

Phantom Girl was starting to get seriously annoyed with Bouncing Boy. "For the twenty-second time, _yes_", she replied irritably.

Bouncing Boy held up his hands. "I was just making sure. How'd Esper defeat Saturn Girl?"

"Again", Lightning Lad muttered under his breath.

"I told you, I have no idea", said Phantom Girl. "I was busy wrestling with Emerald Empress."

"More to the point, why did they all teleport after their watches started beeping?" asked Timber Wolf.

"Or how Validus, Tharok, Wave, and Persuader all managed to disappear before the Science Police had a chance to arrest them when they were all unconscious?" added Triplicate Girl's White Body.

"Or why Ron-Karr is even with the LSV again?" put in Purple Body.

"This is not helpful", said Lightning Lad. "We should be out there rescuing Saturn Girl instead of sitting here talking about how and why."

"The very fact that they were out in orderly, well-planned groups, and that they teleported after their watches beeped signifies that they're working for someone – someone who's coordinating the attack plans and who has a master scheme up his sleeve", reasoned Timber Wolf.

"So why Saturn Girl?" asked Bouncing Boy.

"Could be she might have caught a glimpse of who the master criminal is when she was battling Esper", answered Triplicate Girl's Orange Body.

"Or they took her to prevent that very thing from happening", added White Body. "Whoever this new guy is, he doesn't want to reveal himself. And if any of us would be able to find out who he is when he doesn't show himself, Saturn Girl would be the only one."

"It's also possible that she was simply in the way", said Timber Wolf. "I mean, after Esper defeated her, maybe their leader just wanted to seize the opportunity."

"Whatever it is, she's in danger, and we're no closer figuring out this mystery villain", said Lightning Lad.

"I knew the lack of criminal activity in the past two months was suspicious", mumbled Phantom Girl.

"Quiet! All of you!" They looked at Bouncing Boy in surprise. Obviously he was still just as much of a Legion leader as he had been, despite the post now being filled, once again, by Cosmic Boy.

"Now, we don't know who this mysterious villain is or why he wants Saturn Girl, or what he's planning", continued Bouncing Boy. "But I think it's pretty clear that whoever he is, he's a threat, and a big one. We have to find out who he is and what he's planning and stop him before it's too late. Triplicate Girl, send out warnings to all Legionnaires – tell them we have a new, unknown villain to deal with – possibly one of our old ones thirsting for revenge. Tell them that it's a top-priority, since he has one of our own. Timber Wolf, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, go over the Legion crime log and compile a list of possible villains. We'll go over them one by one."

They didn't even argue. They'd become accustomed to following Bouncing Boy's orders during his term as leader, and he was definitely making sense now.

Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, and Timber Wolf immediately made their way over to the compartment under the computer keyboard where the data pads containing information on the villains they had faced were kept, while Triplicate Girl immediately contacted Cosmic Boy.

"Cosmic Boy. What's going on? We heard there'd been a break-out from Takron Galtose…"

"There was", interrupted Triplicate Girl. "The Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains."

"Again?" Cosmic Boy sounded annoyed and slightly apprehensive. "They were in the top-level security cells. How'd they get out of there?"

"They had help", explained Triplicate Girl. "Someone who's coordinating all their movements. They just attacked different parts of New Metropolis in separate groups. They've got Saturn Girl."

"What?" exclaimed Cosmic Boy. "Then what are you still doing there? Go get her back!"

"We don't know where they are, Cos", said Lightning Lad, looking up from the data pad he was studying. "They teleported. That's the whole reason we're making this call. We need you to keep a look-out for anywhere the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains could be."

"We'll do that. You stay in Legion HQ meanwhile and see if you can get any clues on who helped them escape", ordered Cosmic Boy.

"Already on it", said Phantom Girl.

They whiled away the next hour doing the tasks Bouncing Boy had assigned them to, Triplicate Girl splitting into three and helping to speed up the process of looking through the list of villains when she had contacted the rest of the Legion. Then Bouncing Boy trudged in and plopped down on one of the chairs.

"Nothing", he said desolately. "I've looked at every inch of the security videos from the areas they were attacking, and I've got nothing except a distorted blur at the sites where Validus, Tharok, Wave, and Persuader were. I can barely even tell what color it is."

"Cheer up, Bouncy", said Triplicate Girl's Purple Body, coming over to him with their list of villains. "We might still get something from this."

Bouncing Boy accepted the list and looked in surprise at the first name.

"Dr. Londo?" he queried, looking at Timber Wolf. "You really think –"

"My father is intelligent enough to break two supervillain teams out of Takron Galtose", replied Timber Wolf. "He might want some revenge after we've thwarted his plans twice", he added with a dry, humorless smile.

Bouncing Boy continued scrolling down the list. "Senator Tolay … Mordru … Drax?" He looked up again.

"Well, if he managed to get out of the Phantom Zone…" Phantom Girl shrugged.

"It's a possibility", Bouncing Boy conceded. He looked down at the list again. "Okay … scratch the Scavengers, this sort of operation doesn't give them what they want … the Dark Circle are all in prison … and the Controller prefers to work alone, so I think we can rule him out too."

"That leaves Senator Tolay, Mordru, Drax, and Dr. Londo", said Triplicate Girl's White Body.

"Scratch Senator Tolay", said Lightning Lad. "I know him. He wouldn't deal with two whole teams of supervillains at once. He knows when he's out of his league."

"And we haven't heard of any rift in the phantom zone since we tossed Drax back in there", said Timber Wolf.

"I don't think Dr. Londo's doing this", said Phantom Girl. He doesn't strike the sort of figure the Fatal Five or the Legion of Supervillains would take orders from."

"Which only leaves Mordru", Bouncing Boy concluded. "Anyone know what's going on with him?"

"I can contact Zyx and find out", offered Triplicate Girl's Orange Body.

"Okay", said Bouncing Boy.

They waited a few minutes while Orange Body dispatched the call. Then the High Elder of the Zarokian Council answered.

"Oh, hello", he said amiably when he saw who was calling. "How may I help you, er … the Legion of Superheroes, was it?"

"Yes", Phantom Girl replied. "We need to speak with Zyx."

"Zyx?" The High Elder looked surprised. "Why, Zyx is away, Tinya. The Council sent him on a mission to discover the magical properties of the Titanian sunflower on the far side of the moon. Perhaps I -"

"Where's Mordru?" asked Bouncing Boy.

The High Elder was looking very astonished now. "Mordru? Why, he's in prison, of course. Has been ever since that day, you know. It's a long sentence, after all."

"Are you sure he's in prison?" asked Lightning Lad. "He hasn't escaped or anything?"

"No", answered the High Elder. "He's still there, complaining and cursing no end. I suppose it must be rather dull down there…"

"And you're sure about that?" asked Bouncing Boy.

"Positive." The High Elder was positively bemused now. "I assure you Mordru is quite safe in prison, if you're worrying he might be loose in Zarok again…"

"It's all right, High Elder", said Phantom Girl. "We were just checking. Some strange things have been happening around here, that's all and we were just wondering…"

"Ah, I see." The High Elder interlocked his fingers. "I presume you are once again in the midst of some sort of battle? If I may be of assistance…"

"We'll let you know", replied Phantom Girl. "Thank you." She ended the call and looked around at her teammates. "Well, that's that theory dashed. We're obviously looking at a new villain."

"Which means we're no closer to finding out what's going on or where Saturn Girl is", concluded Lightning Lad in frustration.

Phantom Girl tilted her head to one side and observed him intently. Lightning Lad really went off the deep end whenever Saturn Girl was in danger. First the incident with Esper, and now this – the, er, second incident with Esper.

_I wouldn't like to be Esper when Lightning Lad catches up to her, _Phantom Girl thought to herself. She got the feeling Lightning Lad cared for Saturn Girl a whole lot more than he let on.

* * *

It was only several hours later that the computer screen crackled, and the slim figure of Dream Girl materialized. "We've found Saturn Girl", she informed them.

"What? Where?" Lightning Lad was next to the screen in an instant.

"The planet Rawl. Our search pods picked up an LSV cruiser parked not far away from Dr. Londo's former laboratory. They also spotted a glimpse of Saturn Girl."

"One more reason why my father might be the one behind this whole thing", Timber Wolf muttered under his breath.

"Or, it could just be that the place was abandoned, making it a good hideout", said Bouncing Boy.

"Cosmic Boy's already making plans for her rescue", added Dream Girl. "But he says he'll wait for you, if you want."

"That's generous of him", remarked Lightning Lad. "I'm definitely taking him up on his offer."

"We'll be there as soon as we can", Bouncing Boy told Dream Girl, who nodded and broke communication.

"We may have a slight problem", said Phantom Girl. "Who's gonna keep an eye on Legion HQ and New Metropolis?"

"Simple", said Bouncing Boy, dispatching another call. "We won't be gone long, so I'll just get Sun Boy, Shrinking Violet, Colossal Boy, and Star Boy to cover for us here." His call went through, and Sun Boy - who, along with the other four Legionnaires Bouncing Boy had mentioned, was off-duty at the moment - promised to alert the other four and watch over Legion HQ.

"Of course", added Bouncing Boy, turning from the screen as it blanked again, "Someone will have to stay behind."

There was silence, then Triplicate Girl put her hand up. "I'll stay", she volunteered.

"All right, then, that's settled", said Bouncing Boy, satisfied. "Triplicate Girl, Sun Boy and the others should be here soon. You stay here and wait for them, all right?"

"Will do, Bouncy", replied Triplicate Girl. "Keep me posted."

Bouncing Boy nodded and sped off to the hangar, the others following him, Lightning Lad already a few feet ahead of him.

* * *

**_A/N: Ha! Told you I'd update daily. _**_**Reviews, as always, are appreciated and very much welcome.**_

**Disclaimer: Okay, this is only the second time so far...I don't own **_Legion of Superheroes._


	3. In the Hands of the Enemy

**Chapter 3**

Saturn Girl woke up in a strange room, feeling as though her head had been broken into repeatedly – which was probably true, if Esper had anything to do with it. She was lying strapped to a cold metal table, unable to move her arms or legs. Then, hearing voices in the corridor outside, she stiffened and strained to listen with her ears – if she used her telepathy, if Esper was anywhere near her, she would know.

"…still don't get why we teamed up with that bossy, arrogant know-it-all", a voice, which Saturn Girl recognized as Mano's, complained.

"Did you _want _to spend another six months on Takron Galtose while Tharok finalized his grand plan to get us out?" retorted Emerald Empress' voice. "That 'bossy, arrogant know-it-all' was our ticket to freedom; did you really think I was going to let an opportunity like that slip by, no matter how ridiculous his plan was? Besides, I think it's worked out rather well so far, don't you?"

Mano grunted. "Surprisingly, yes." He slid the door open. "Oh, our little visitor is awake. Hello, Saturn Girl."

"Well", said Emerald Empress with a wicked smile. "I really have to hand it to Esper, she's managed to subdue you twice so far."

Saturn Girl didn't reply.

"Oh, giving us the silent treatment now, are you?" said Emerald Empress. "That won't work, you know. We need information about the Legion, and you're going to give it to us. As a founder, you must know all the secrets."

Shocked, Saturn Girl exclaimed, "What? How did you know that?"

"We've been doing our research, Saturn Girl. Or rather", Empress added, "our master has."

"So you're working for someone now, are you?" asked Saturn Girl.

"As a matter of fact, yes", replied Emerald Empress. "Not that it's any of your business. And don't try using your telepathy to get the name", she added. "Our master's wise to your tricks."

The door opened again, and Tyr and Tharok slid in.

"Well, well, well", said Tyr maliciously. "All ready, then?"

"We're still waiting for the interrogater", Emerald Empress pointed out.

"Esper will be here soon", Tharok put in. "The boss is just having a little talk with her first about what to do."

Tyr snickered and leered at Saturn Girl. "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this."

The door slid open for a third time to admit the slender, petite form of Esper. Examining her nails superficially, she said, "Let's get the party started, shall we?"

* * *

Lightning Lad paced around the bridge of the Legion cruiser. "Can't you make this thing go any faster?" he demanded of Bouncing Boy in frustration.

Bouncing Boy took a deep breath to calm himself before answering. "I'm already going at the top speed capabilities of the cruiser, Lightning Lad. If I accelerate anymore, it'll fry the engine and bust the circuits, and then we'll be stuck in space, and that won't help either us or Saturn Girl."

Lightning Lad tried to quell his aggravation. "You're right. Sorry. It's just…" he added as he began pacing again.

"I know", Bouncing Boy said sympathetically. There was silence except for the low rumble of the cruiser's engine.

After some time, Phantom Girl spotted the planet Rawl, and another Legion cruiser behind an asteroid, not too far away. "Look", she said, pointing. "There it is."

Timber Wolf contacted the other cruiser, bringing Cosmic Boy's image up on the screen.

"About time", grumbled Cosmic Boy. "I was about to start without you."

"What's the plan?" asked Lightning Lad.

"Don't actually have one", replied Cosmic Boy, much to the surprise of Lightning Lad and the others. "How about we all just storm in, take out the bad guys, get Saturn Girl, and leave?"

"Now you're talking", said Lightning Lad. He managed a small grin.

"Now that that's settled", said Cosmic Boy, "Let's begin the attack."

* * *

Saturn Girl screamed as Esper invaded her head again, mercilessly and viciously sifting through all her memories and thoughts. But the memories Saturn Girl was trying her hardest to keep at the surface to prevent Esper from discovering the Legion's crucial secrets were too trivial for the other telepath. She withdrew.

"What are you hiding?" cried Esper in frustration. "Why can't I get past those stupid, unimportant thoughts?"

"Because she's throwing them at you, idiot", said Emerald Empress as she leaned against the wall, looking bored. She came over to Saturn Girl with the Eye of Ekron. "Now play nice", she said, as the Eye tried to do what Esper had been unsuccessful at, shining its mesmerizing green beam into Saturn Girl's eyes.

At once, Saturn Girl put up a resistance. During the Legion's encounters with the Fatal Five, Saturn Girl had been one of the few who could resist the Eye's hypnotizing power. But repeated attempts by Esper to break into her mind had weakened her, and after a while she couldn't keep the Eye out of her head.

Slowly, the Emerald Eye of Ekron began sorting through all the memories she had ever had, starting with those concerning the Legion.

* * *

"Patrol ship, 2 o' clock!" Phantom Girl called out to Bouncing Boy, who swerved to avoid being seen by the small hovering aircraft.

"Did it see us?" asked Bouncing Boy.

"Don't think so", replied Phantom Girl. "That was close."

"How soon can we land?" asked Lightning Lad.

"Right now", answered Bouncing Boy as he parked the Legion cruiser behind a large, leafy bush in the jungle surrounding Dr. Londo's former laboratory.

The four Legionnaires got out and made sure their cruiser was well concealed before they met up with Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl, Chameleon Boy, Matter-Eater Lad, and Element Lad.

"Everyone accounted for?" asked Cosmic Boy as he counted everybody's heads. "All right, let's go."

* * *

_Stop her! _Saturn Girl's subconscious was screaming as the Eye of Ekron continued to glean information about the Legion from her thoughts. She knew she had to stop it before it learned too many important secrets.

"Very interesting…" Saturn Girl could hear Emerald Empress muttering.

_Push her out! Attack it! Defend! Anything!_ But how?

_No, no, go away! _Saturn Girl thought to herself, as the Eye drew nearer to the memory of the building of Legion HQ – along with all the other secrets that came with it. _Go away!_

They could not see that. The Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains _could not _see that, and neither could whoever was giving them orders. It was far too important; if they knew the secrets of Legion Headquarters…

_Stop! _She didn't realize she'd said it out loud, pleading weakly with her enemies.

"Stop?" repeated Mano incredulously. "When we're just getting started?"

"When we're just getting to the best part?" added Emerald Empress, who was receiving visual images of everything the Eye was seeing.

They laughed.

But the Eye kept coming toward that memory, that gold mine of imperative facts…

_Stop it, stop it, stop it! You won't see that; I'm not letting you. Go away, keep out – GO AWAY!_

Some unknown form of energy burst inside Saturn Girl, awakened by the need to withhold that vital piece of information. She needed to shield it, protect it – and miraculously, her mind summoned up the strength and ability to push the Eye of Ekron's probing beam away, out of her head. The one thing on her mind was to shield the secrets of the Legion, and somehow she was doing it – with a glowing force field.

There were shouts and exclamations of shock and amazement; she heard Emerald Empress cry out in pain as she forced the Eye to back away, heard Tyr's vehement curse, Esper's surprised gasp, Mano's astonished articulation of "Hey!", Tharok's growl – and then, the startled voices of her teammates. She recognized Lightning Lad's, Cosmic Boy's, Phantom Girl's, Timber Wolf's, Bouncing Boy's…but then her memory clouded and faded into black nothingness.

* * *

**_A/N: Ahahahaha! I'm evil, aren't I? Never mind, Chapter 4 coming tomorrow, so don't you worry about being left in the dark. Thanks to _**_ClUeLeSs, Lillywhitecherub, cartoongal11, _**_and _**_The Violet Rose **for reviewing on my last two chapters!**_

**Disclaimer: Disclaimer number 3. Still not too many yet...I don't own **_Legion of Superheroes**. **_**Least it's short.**


	4. The Rescue

**Chapter 4**

"Here!" cried Element Lad, bringing the others running to him. After weaving their way through innumerable corridors, countless robotic guards, members of the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains, and at least ten empty rooms, they'd finally managed to locate the room where Saturn Girl was being held – and that was only because there was such a ruckus coming from inside that it masked (fortunately) Element Lad's rather loud call. But it didn't hide the unmistakable cry that was Saturn Girl's voice.

Cosmic Boy didn't even think – he simply lifted the metal door off its hinges, revealing a confusing chaos.

Inside, Saturn Girl was strapped to a table, her wrists and ankles bound with metal links. Her eyes were barely open, and her body was tense. Surrounding her was what appeared to be a transparent, glowing bubble, which was pushing Esper, Tyr, Tharok, Mano, and Emerald Empress away, and diverting their attention from the Legionnaires, whose exclamations of surprise, anger, amazement, and shock mingled with the shouts of the villains.

Then the bubble, which they recognized as a force field, flickered and vanished as Saturn Girl went limp.

Fear and anger coursed through Lightning Lad as he fired a bolt of lightning toward the group of villains. Around him, he saw his teammates attacking as well. Bouncing Boy, Element Lad, and Dream Girl were fighting Tyr; Phantom Girl and Timber Wolf were battling Tharok as Cosmic Boy and Matter-Eater Lad confronted Emerald Empress; Chameleon Boy was tackling Mano – and Lightning Lad's electric bolt hit Esper square in the chest.

It was a quick battle – it was over as quickly as it had started. The villains, taken by surprise and outnumbered two to one, were overcome quickly. The Legionnaires might have provided a one-way ticket back to Takron Galtose for the five supervillains there and then, had it not been for the deficient condition of Saturn Girl, who was not responding to anything the Legionnaires did.

"We've got to get her to sick bay", Cosmic Boy said, trying in vain to revive his co-founder.

"What about them?" Matter-Eater Lad asked, glancing toward the floor where the five villains lay unconscious.

"Forget them, Saturn Girl's condition isn't good", said Dream Girl, checking the telepath's vitals. "Help me out here", she said to Lightning Lad and Timber Wolf. Timber Wolf immediately prepared to support Saturn Girl, but Lightning Lad got there first, lifting her up bridal style.

"You got her?" asked Timber Wolf.

"Yeah, I got her. Now let's get out of here!"

"Was it just me", began Chameleon Boy, as they hurried out the way they came, "or was Saturn Girl generating a force field when we came in?"

"Not the time, Cham!" Phantom Girl cried. She kicked one of the robot guards as she rushed past him. "We've got to get out of here before we're surrounded by bad guys", she said.

"Hearing you loud and clear", agreed Bouncing Boy.

They forced their way back to their two cruisers, battling robots in the winding corridors. As they finally made it out the front door, there were at least fifty robots hot on their trail.

"Let's hope they can't fly", said Timber Wolf, as he and the others rose through the air. Fortunately, they couldn't. The robots remained on the ground, staring up at the airborne Legionnaires. Then they turned abruptly and disappeared back into the building. The Legionnaires thought this was a bad sign, but they didn't have time to think on that; Saturn Girl was barely breathing.

"We've got to get her stabilized", Dream Girl declared, rushing about the sick bay on the cruiser Lightning Lad, Bouncing Boy, Phantom Girl, and Timber Wolf had come on.

"What exactly is wrong with her?" Lightning Lad demanded.

"Exhaustion", Dream Girl replied, hooking Saturn Girl up to a heart monitor. "That force field she was generating when we got to her took almost all the energy she had left. She barely has enough to stay alive."

"What did they do to her?" Phantom Girl wanted to know. "What could have forced her to create a force field?"

"It doesn't matter", said Dream Girl. "She needs rest if she's going to recover."

"_If_?" Lightning Lad repeated.

"She'll be out of it for a while, but she should make a full recovery" - Dream Girl paused – "physically. Mentally, I can't really tell. There are no marks on her, so whatever the Eye was doing, it was doing it to her mind. That might have been what triggered the force field. It could have been an attempt by Saturn Girl's mind to protect itself."

"You don't happen to have had any dreams about this, do you?" asked Lightning Lad.

Dream Girl was silent for a while before she answered quietly, "One."

"And what was in it?" inquired Lightning Lad, who was trying to keep his temper from rising until he heard the whole story. It was hard, though, seeing as it concerned Saturn Girl.

"I – I dreamed about the kidnapping…" Dream Girl began.

"And you didn't give us any warning?" bellowed Lightning Lad.

"…right before you called to say she was missing." Dream Girl looked up. "About an hour before, to be exact. There was no one at Legion HQ, and I couldn't get your signal rings."

Lightning Lad forced himself to calm down. "Okay. Sorry", he apologized. "So…" he glanced at Saturn Girl's still form. "How long until she wakes up?"

"I can't tell", said Dream Girl. "I'm not exactly sure how much energy she'll need before she can regain consciousness. A day, at the very least. For now, let her sleep. She needs it."

* * *

Lightning Lad and Dream Girl moved Saturn Girl to the sick bay in Legion HQ, where it was safer – if only slightly. Then Cosmic Boy assigned Sun Boy, Shrinking Violet, Colossal Boy, Star Boy, Triplicate Girl, Phantom Girl, Chameleon Boy, and Matter-Eater Lad into two teams to gather as much information as they could about the Fatal Five's and the LSV's actions while he, Lightning Lad, Timber Wolf, Dream Girl, Bouncing Boy, and Element Lad remained behind as a home defense.

Once the others had left, Cosmic Boy sat down on a couch and breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's with the big sigh, Cos?" inquired Lightning Lad.

"I'm glad we got to Rawl before it was too late", Cosmic Boy answered, after a brief hesitation.

"Yeah, me too." Lightning Lad felt a bit awkward. He and Cosmic Boy had their differences, but they were still best friends, and their tie as founders kept them together. And Saturn Girl was one of the few things they had in common. They both cared deeply for her.

"So what do we do now?" he asked.

"Now", said Cosmic Boy grimly, "We get the person who's behind this and put him, the Fatal Five, and the LSV in Takron Galtose for good."

* * *

The voices floated in her mind as she processed what they were saying. She wondered why she hadn't been able to hear them before. Usually she heard everything.

"…can't find anything", a voice she recognized as Chameleon Boy's answered. "…looked everywhere…"

The sentences were fragmented; she only heard bits and pieces. She was only sure of a warm hand enveloping hers.

"…been three days…sure she's…no idea…behind this all…"

Different voices, different words. Yet all familiar, and all with the same urgency. _What's going on? _she wondered.

"…call you back later…"

Well, there was only one way to find out. Telepathy could only get you so far. Saturn Girl opened her eyes. She was in the sick bay, but she was stationary, which meant she was not in a cruiser. In the room were Cosmic Boy, Dream Girl…and Lightning Lad, who, though his eyes were focused on Cosmic Boy, was holding her hand.

"…got nothing to work with except –"

Saturn Girl gave Lightning Lad's fingers a little squeeze and interrupted him mid-sentence.

With a startled yelp, the Winathian looked down and, seeing she was awake, broke into a wide smile.

"Finally", he said. "Welcome back, Saturn Girl."

"Feeling better?" Cosmic Boy asked as he scooted over. She smiled and nodded, and tried to get up, but Lightning Lad held her down, shaking his head.

"Nuh-uh", he said. "Wait a bit before you get up, okay?"

"It's about time", Dream Girl said. "I was beginning to get a bit worried. Move over, Lightning Lad", she added, pushing him away. "I need to check her." Lightning Lad obeyed, but still remained close.

After a complete physical evaluation, Dream Girl declared, "You're fine. Feel all right?"

"Yes", Saturn Girl replied, not missing the way Lightning Lad beamed as he heard her voice. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days", answered Cosmic Boy.

"Three days?" Saturn Girl exclaimed, attempting to sit up again but being restrained by Lightning Lad once more.

"Yes, three days", he said. "And if you don't stop trying to get up, you'll be in here longer. Just lie down for a while, will you? You've been through a lot."

"Saturn Girl", began Cosmic Boy warily, "I hate to have to ask this, but…what exactly happened?"

"Not now, Cos", Lightning Lad said firmly. "Can't you see she's just –" He stopped as he saw Saturn Girl frown. "Saturn Girl? What's wrong?"

"What happened?" Cosmic Boy repeated his question, evicting a glare from Lightning Lad.

Saturn Girl looked at him seriously. "I – I don't know. I can't remember."

* * *

**_A/N: Yet another cliffy! Well, I did warn you. Thanks to _**_The Violet Rose, xXKazaneXx, **and **Lillywhitecherub_**_ for reviewing on the last chapter. As for the rest of you who're reading this, all you have to do is click that button below and write a few words. It's a great way to put in your own two cents. Starting today, I'm accepting any ideas you guys might have for the sequel to _**_The Threat of the Ruby, **and putting them in a review is also an excellent means of getting it to me. **_

**Disclaimer: Arghh! This is only the fourth time and I'm already getting fed up with this. Here's great way to know I don't own this: If I did, I wouldn't be getting annoyed with the necessity for disclaimer because I wouldn't need one!**


	5. Recovery

**Chapter 5**

"But why can't she remember?" demanded Cosmic Boy in a fierce whisper outside the room, after he and Lightning Lad had been pushed out by Dream Girl.

"It's a normal reaction", Dream Girl explained. "It happens in about 76% of people who have experienced great physical, mental, or emotional trauma."

"All right, now you're scaring me", said Lightning Lad from near the door.

Ignoring him, Cosmic Boy hissed, "This – is - _normal_? This is amnesia!"

"Admittedly, it would have been better if it didn't happen, but I'm not surprised it did", said Dream Girl.

"And since when did you become the resident medical expert?" asked Lightning Lad in confusion.

"Since Brainy left and someone had to fill the post!" retorted Dream Girl. Her response evicted an uncomfortable silence. Most Legionnaires tried to avoid talking about their former teammate. A few who weren't so close to Brainy felt like he should have had better control over the dark side of his mind, but they all understood it hadn't truly been his fault, and didn't mention him because of the emotional gap he'd caused when he left.

"Look, it's an ordinary defense mechanism that the body employs when something bad's happened to it", Dream Girl continued in a gentler tone. The brain blocks out the memory of the incident to preserve its sanity."

"_Sanity?_" gritted Cosmic Boy.

"Saturn Girl's not going to go mad", Dream Girl said, impatient once more. "Her mind's stronger than that."

"Still…amnesia…not a good time…we need to know what happened!" exclaimed Cosmic Boy.

"And you will", Dream Girl told him exasperatedly. "Just as soon as Saturn Girl remembers it."

"Which is when?" demanded Cosmic Boy. "Are you even sure she's even going to manage to?"

"Most defensive amnesia victims recover their memory eventually", Dream Girl said. "She'll remember. And sooner than you think."

"That doesn't really answer my question", Cosmic Boy groused.

"I know. But it's the best I've got."

"Is it important enough to merit telling her what we saw?" asked Lightning Lad, a bit hesitantly. He didn't really want to have to describe the scenario to Saturn Girl, but he knew how important it was for her to remember. "Maybe that'll jog her memory."

"Uh-uh", Dream Girl deflected. "No way. Her mind blocked that memory for a reason. It will let her remember it when she's ready for it – usually in bits and pieces. For now, it's best we don't tell her anything."

"You're acting as if her mind has a mind of its own", grumbled Cosmic Boy. "And no pun intended."

"The brain is a powerful thing", said Dream Girl. "In some ways, it does have a mind of its own. It knows what's best to protect itself. Just be patient. I'll work with her a bit; see if I can get her to recreate the force field."

"Are you insane?" Lightning Lad demanded. "After what happened the first time she did it? There is just no way –"

"She's going to need that extra power for something in the future", Dream Girl told him. "I had another dream. She needs to be able to generate those force fields."

"Can you be more specific about _what _she's going to need force fields for?" asked Lightning Lad.

"I just saw her using a force field, that was it. Nothing else. But she needs to master this new power. Don't worry. I know how to do it. Now shoo. I've got to begin her therapy."

"_Therapy?_" grated Cosmic Boy.

"Analysis! Recovery! Call it whatever you want!" Dream Girl was starting to get seriously irritated. "I know what I need to do and how to do it. And if you two don't get away from here _right now _you're going to experience the advanced end of my hand-to-hand combat skills. Go tell the others Saturn Girl's awake, but _stay there _and let me do my work."

And with that, she went back inside the room and closed the door on them.

* * *

"What do you remember, Saturn Girl?" Dream Girl asked.

Saturn Girl frowned in concentration as she tried to piece her memory together. "There was trouble – in downtown Metropolis…the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains had escaped from jail. And I was fighting Esper…" She closed her eyes; this was where her memory failed. "There was a – a table, a metal table…" she managed to recall, "…and – and Esper was there too, and Emerald Empress, and the Eye, and…" She sighed. "I can't remember anything after that."

"It's all right", Dream Girl assured her. "That's a remarkable amount of information you've managed to retain, considering what happened."

"Then you know?" asked Saturn Girl.

"I know what happened in the beginning and end of it all", Dream Girl said cautiously. "But only you know the middle of it."

"I'll try to remember", Saturn Girl promised. "But right now I feel really tired."

"It's only natural", said Dream Girl. "Get some rest – you don't have to stay in sick bay anymore, but you shouldn't exert yourself. I'm sure the others are waiting to see you, but if you want, I can chase them away with threats of horrifying fates for them if they disturb you."

"Would they believe you?" asked Saturn Girl interestedly.

"Maybe, maybe not", Dream Girl admitted. "But if they don't, I can always kick them away – with force."

She laughed, as did Saturn Girl.

"Thanks for the offer, Dream Girl", said the telepath. "But I think I'll be all right."

* * *

The next week passed rather slowly for Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, and the other Legionnaires. There was still no news of the Fatal Five or the LSV, as a scouting party discovered that they were no longer on Rawl, and though Dream Girl worked with Saturn Girl daily, the Titanian was still not remembering the important parts of her ordeal.

"It's only bits and pieces", said Saturn Girl. "I can only recall bits and pieces of the minor details, but I can't shake the feeling there's one major thing I'm missing."

"You'll get it in time", Dream Girl assured her.

But Saturn Girl couldn't remember the whole thing until almost ten days after she'd woken up. Lightning Lad was busy discussing the most recent development in the Fatal Five/LSV case with Cosmic Boy, Timber Wolf and a computer image of Star Boy when he heard an anguished cry coming from Saturn Girl's room.

"Noooooo!"

Lightning Lad bolted, Timber Wolf following close behind, while Cosmic Boy uttered a hasty, "Call you back later", to Star Boy and chased after them.

Typically, Lightning Lad reached the room first, only to have a half-sobbing Saturn Girl tumble into his arms.

"What in the name of – Saturn Girl, what happened?" he asked in alarm.

"What's going on?" Timber Wolf inquired as he entered.

"I was about to ask the same thing", added Dream Girl as she came in from the opposite direction.

"What happened?" asked Cosmic Boy, catching up to them.

The last to arrive were Bouncing Boy and Element Lad, the former of whom wheezed out, "Heard…shout…what…?"

"No, no, no", Saturn Girl was saying. "No."

"Saturn Girl, _what _is going on?" Dream Girl demanded.

Looking around tearfully, Saturn Girl replied, "I – I remember now. I remember everything."

"Do you?" said Cosmic Boy, looking relieved. "Well, if that's the case…"

"It's not good", Saturn Girl said, as she stopped crying. "I – they – she entered my mind. She was looking for information. I tried to stop her, but it was too strong…"

"Who's 'she'?" asked Lightning Lad, though he thought he had a pretty shrewd idea.

Saturn Girl didn't answer that, but her eyes told him his guess was right – at least partially.

_Now I'm really going to kill Esper, _he thought vengefully.

"And?" prompted Cosmic Boy.

"They know", Saturn Girl said dully. "They know how the Legion was founded, they know parts of the Code, they know the location of our back-up headquarters, and they know how to avoid our search parties. They were going to get my memory of the building of Legion HQ, as well, but…"

"But?" inquired Bouncing Boy.

"I stopped them", Saturn Girl said, and her eyes flashed with newfound determination. "I managed to – to concentrate, and somehow, I think I created a – a force field…"

Dream Girl and Lightning Lad exchanged glances.

"That, at least, is a relief", said Cosmic Boy. "It would have been a disaster if they knew the secrets this place holds."

"And it also explains why we haven't been able to find any trace of them since we rescued you", said Element Lad.

"I'm sorry", Saturn Girl said softly.

"What are you apologizing for?" asked Timber Wolf. "This isn't your fault. Considering how long they kept you, that's only a little bit of information."

"Timber Wolf's right", agreed Dream Girl. "You shouldn't blame yourself for this. If anything, we're grateful you managed to protect the secrets of Legion HQ."

Saturn Girl smiled wanly. "Thanks."

"I still need to work with you, though", Dream Girl continued. "If we take it slowly, and if we work hard enough, we might be able to develop your force field generation to the point it could actually be a new power."

"A new power?" Saturn Girl repeated.

"We'll take it slow, Saturn Girl", Dream Girl assured her. "But I have a feeling you're going to need to be able to generate force fields. It'll help against the Fatal Five and the LSV, since they might not know about it. If we're lucky, when they saw you generate that force field back in Dr. Londo's lab, they'll pass it off as a one-time occurrence that happened as a result of all the stress you were under."

Saturn Girl hesitated a moment, but then she breathed deeply and said, "Okay."

* * *

Even though they now knew why they hadn't been able to find anything, but the Legionnaires were no less frustrated or worried. This development left them particularly vulnerable, and the Fatal Five still kept them on their toes, attacking every week or so (without the LSV, oddly enough), but always disappearing. Saturn Girl never went along when the other Legionnaires fought them, partly because she hadn't yet fully recovered, but mostly because Lightning Lad and Cosmic Boy were adamant about her staying safe in Legion HQ.

Meanwhile, Dream Girl was patiently trying to train her in getting control of her new power. They followed a specific routine: during their sessions, Dream Girl would attempt to trigger a force field by attacking in such a way Saturn Girl never knew if she would be hit or not without telepathy, which she didn't use during that one hour. If she was hit, the injuries were never serious, as Dream Girl knew how to control her attacks. Once or twice, Saturn Girl managed to produce a weak force field that could deflect Dream Girl just long enough for her to duck, disappearing almost instantaneously.

But slowly, her force fields became stronger and more lasting, and she managed to gradually accustom herself to sustaining them so that it didn't put such a strain on her mind anymore.

"That's great!" Dream Girl exclaimed encouragingly during one of their sessions three months later. She picked herself up from the floor. Saturn Girl's force field was still going strong, shimmering in the sunlight that streamed in from the window of the room. The golden rays illuminated her form, and for a brief moment, Saturn Girl seemed to shine – not just glow – really and truly shine with brilliant light. In that instant, Dream Girl had a sudden, passing premonition that disappeared as soon as it came, but it left her with a strong feeling that some big things were going to be happening soon – with Saturn Girl in the middle of them.

"Dream Girl? Are you all right?" Saturn Girl was no longer bathed in light, and Dream Girl wondered if she'd imagined the whole thing.

"Yeah, I'm fine", she replied. She smiled. "I think you've got it."

"It still feels a bit weird, though, having another power", mused Saturn Girl. "I'm not sure I'd think of using it in an emergency."

"You'll get used to it", Dream Girl said confidently.

Suddenly a loud siren wailed and red lights flashed, signaling yet another problem for the Legion to sort out. The two Legionnaires raced to the main room, skidding to a stop short of the monitors.

"Is it the Fatal Five again?" asked Dream Girl. "Because I swear, if they've messed with the same department store _again_…"

"They're not at the department store this time", said Lightning Lad, looking grim. "They're right outside Legion HQ. And they've got the Legion of Supervillains with them."

* * *

**_A/N: Dun-dun-dun! Another battle! And Saturn Girl's got a new power - yay! I'm telling you, this chapter was not easy to write. I think I stalled on it for about a week and a half. Good thing I completed the story before posting, huh? Thanks to _**_xXKazaneXx, The Violet Rose,_**_ and _**_Lillywhitecherub_**_ for reviewing! If you guys want your name here, click on that button below and review (hint hint).  
_**

**Disclaimer: Another disclaimer! No, it's not the same as listing my reviewer's names, because I sincerely want to thank them. I don't sincerely want to do this because _I don't own _**_Legion of Superheroes._**  
**


	6. The Second Major Battle

**Chapter 6**

"We're outnumbered", reported Phantom Girl, who was once again commissioned to Headquarters as part of Cosmic Boy's rotating system (the current home defense consisted of Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Dream Girl, Phantom Girl, Chameleon Boy, and Colossal Boy). "Ten of them against six of us."

"Seven", corrected Saturn Girl firmly.

"What? No way", said Lightning Lad, as Cosmic Boy's face took on an expression that stated he agreed with him.

"Honestly, Garth", said Saturn Girl. "It's been three months, and besides, you need as many people you can get. The Fatal Five and LSV together are a serious problem."

"It's too dangerous", Lightning Lad insisted stubbornly. He was _not _going to let her get hurt again.

"For your information", Saturn Girl shot at him, "I have just managed to master my force field generation. They won't know what hit them. Besides, I'm fully recovered now. I can take care of myself."

Lightning Lad sighed. He was running out of options. Even a small voice at the back of his mind told him he couldn't keep Saturn Girl inside Legion HQ forever. "Fine", he relented. "Just be careful."

"Uh, hate to break up your little lovers' quarrel", said Chameleon Boy, making both of them blush, "but the bad guys are advancing pretty quickly. We should go – uh, now?"

"Cham's right", agreed Cosmic Boy. "Let's show them we mean business."

"I've got Esper", Lightning Lad declared as they flew out of Legion HQ to confront the villains.

"No, I do", Saturn Girl countered.

"What?" exclaimed Lightning Lad in surprise. "No! Saturn Girl, Esper defeated you twice and invaded your mind just three months ago. You almost died. And now you want me to let you face her alone?"

"I've got my force fields, Lightning Lad", Saturn Girl said calmly. "And I'd like to get back at Esper too. But more importantly, we need to find out who their mysterious leader is. I can surprise her. Let me do it my way." She made a beeline for Esper. "Keep the others off me", she called over her shoulder.

Lightning Lad wanted to pull her back , but he knew she was right. Besides, she'd reach Esper before he did. Sighing, he tackled Tyr as his teammates went into action too.

"Esper!" Saturn Girl called. The telepath looked up and smirked.

"Why, hello again, Saturn Girl", she said mockingly. "You've been out of action for a while, haven't you? I heard our last encounter didn't end too well for you."

"This one won't end well for _you_", Saturn Girl declared, her eyes glowing.

Meanwhile, Tyr retaliated valiantly against Lightning Lad, but a well-aimed bolt of lightning knocked him out for the duration of the battle as Lightning Lad went for Persuader.

Dream Girl used her expert combat skills on Mano, dodging his destructive hand as she kicked and punched him. Phantom Girl fought Emerald Empress hand to hand in mid-air, going intangible whenever the Eye of Ekron tried to hypnotize her. Chameleon Boy was pitched against Ron-Karr, the both of them trying to outdo each other's shape-shifting. Cosmic Boy manipulated the metal in Tharok's cyborg body to send him smashing into Wave, who didn't even have a chance to grab anything with her groping hair. Colossal Boy grew to his full height and tackled Validus. Unfortunately, this division left Hunter free, and he didn't seem to like having no one to fight.

Hunter slashed his axe at Phantom Girl, who saw him just in time and phased, allowing the weapon to pass right through her. But her distraction was enough for Emerald Empress to kick her to the ground when she re-solidified. This now left two villains free, and they attacked the Legionnaires, who, with the exception of Cosmic Boy, were all distracted with their own opponents. The battle turned into an intense, hard fight. The Legionnaires were outnumbered, but they made better use of their powers than their enemies. Soon Saturn Girl and Esper were the only ones having a one-on-one fight.

"Give it up, Saturn Girl", Esper cried over the howling wind which had suddenly risen around them as she kept the Legionnaire's telepathic attacks at bay. "I've beaten you twice now. You're no match for me. I'm stronger than you."

"I've grown stronger too", Saturn Girl informed her, putting even more power into her telepathy. She saw, with satisfaction, Esper's astonished expression at the increased attack.

Around them, the other Legionnaires were slowly rallying. Along with Tharok, Wave, and Tyr, Ron-Karr was now out of the battle, having had Colossal Boy's giant fist smash down on his head. Mano was also out of action – Dream Girl had driven a hard kick into his back, knocking him off his feet several meters in the air, before he crumpled on the ground and lay still. Now, Lightning Lad and Chameleon Boy were fighting Emerald Empress while Cosmic Boy battled Hunter and Phantom Girl and Colossal Boy struggled with Validus. Dream Girl was now fighting against Persuader, the only other villain.

But then the tide turned again. With surprising force, the villains pushed all the Legionnaires except Saturn Girl (who was still battling Esper) into one group, forming a tight circle around them and firing attacks at the cornered heroes. Above them, the dark, overcast sky thundered ominously as a streak of lightning crossed it, and the violent wind escalated to a powerful gale.

"Look around you, Saturn Girl", Esper shouted, concentrating hard against Saturn Girl's attack. "You're losing! Your teammates are cornered. You can't fight anymore. Surrender, and my master might be merciful."

"Who is your master?" Saturn Girl demanded.

Esper managed a sneer. "And why would I tell you that?"

"Because", began Saturn Girl, "I can do – _this_!" And she suddenly changed her telepathic attack into a force field, which she had been waiting for the right moment to unleash. Drawing strength from an unknown source (she said later it felt like the rising storm was channeling its energy into her), her force field advanced toward Esper, pushing away her telepathy. Esper's eyes widened in fear and amazement, as she realized too late what Saturn Girl was about to do.

Saturn Girl once again changed her attack. Her force field having surprised Esper, she probed rather forcefully into the villain's mind. Scanning through Esper's thoughts, taking note of the important things, Saturn Girl finally found what she was looking for – and the answer shocked her.

Enraged, Esper took advantage of Saturn Girl's shock. Unleashing her full telepathic prowess, she attacked Saturn Girl one last time in pure fury before her watch beeped rapidly, heard even over the raging wind. Esper looked at it with distaste even as the watches of the other villains started beeping in the same way. She looked torn for a moment, then, glowering, she rose into the air, proclaiming, "This is not the last battle, Saturn Girl. We will meet again. And then, you will pay." Then she and the rest of her teammates, conscious and unconscious, disappeared. Overhead, heavy raindrops began falling, pelting the stunned heroes.

"You all right?" inquired Lightning Lad anxiously as he helped Saturn Girl up.

"I'm fine", she replied, but although she did look none the worse for the wear, her tone indicated that there was something disturbing afoot.

"What's wrong?" asked Dream Girl, picking up on it immediately. Her premonition from earlier that day came back again, in full force.

"I know who's leading them", said Saturn Girl.

"Who?" asked Colossal Boy. Thunder rumbled loudly, but nobody was paying attention to the storm, despite being soaked.

Saturn Girl looked at them full in the face. "Brainiac 1.0", she answered seriously, as lightning flashed and the sky thundered again.

* * *

**_A/N: Enter Brainiac 1.0! Well, not quite yet, but you know what I mean. Thanks to, again, _**_The Violet Rose **and **Lillywhitecherub **for taking the time to leave some feedback. As for the rest of you, what is up with you? Take a leaf from the books of these two and review, for my sake. Pretty pretty please?**_

**Disclaimer: Help! Disclaimer number six! I don't own **_Legion of Superheroes._


	7. Brainiac 1 0

**Chapter 7**

Cosmic Boy sent everybody to clean up and get dry before meeting in the main room to discuss the newest development. Phantom Girl and Colossal Boy glanced sideways at Saturn Girl as they headed for their rooms. Saturn Girl didn't have to be telepathic to know what those looks meant – they were wondering if she had been seeing things. Even Cosmic Boy had looked worried. Soon there was only Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad left in the hallway. Saturn Girl started to head toward her room, but Lightning Lad pulled her back.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked in concern.

"I'm all right", Saturn Girl assured him. "Just a little tired." She looked him straight in the eye. "I know some of them think I imagined seeing Brainiac 1.0 in Esper's thoughts."

"Well", began Lightning Lad reasonably, "You have to admit, it's a little hard to take in. We all saw the guy die five months ago."

"Do you believe me?" The question was short, direct, and to the point. Lightning Lad sighed.

"I don't know", he admitted carefully. "It's possible you _did _imagine it. You've been through a lot, with the amnesia and force fields." He placed a tentative hand on her shoulder. She didn't push it away.

"I know what I saw", she insisted. "Brainiac 1.0's directing the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains."

"Then I suppose he did manage to find a way to come back to life."

She threw him a quizzical look.

"I've known you for years, Saturn Girl", said Lightning Lad. "And I know you wouldn't be so sure if it wasn't true. Whatever you say, I'm with you."

Saturn Girl's face lit up with a genuine smile. "Thanks, Garth", she said gratefully. She looked around. "We should go change. I'll see you later." She gently removed his hand and walked down the corridor, not completely unaware that he was watching her.

* * *

Brainiac 1.0 sat on his metal, throne-like chair with his hands perched rigidly on the armrests. "You have failed me", he said coldly.

Esper winced even more than the others did; she had a feeling most of his anger was directed at her. "Forgive me, master", she said, bowing her head. "I didn't expect Saturn Girl to be so powerful."

"And in that, lies the key to your failure", Brainiac told her. "You humans are so arrogant. You believed you were better than she. You were bolstered by your success in defeating her twice. You grew cocky and overconfident, and that is why the Legion of Superheroes now knows that I am the one they are facing." He glared at them all in cold fury. "It was a crucial part of my strategy that they remained ignorant of my existence until the time was right. You have just destroyed all of my plans."

"We're sorry, master", Wave ventured emphatically.

Brainiac seemed to consider her apology. "Very well", he said at last. "I will overlook your incompetence this time. But next time I might not be so forgiving." He rubbed his chin. "But I suppose you are not entirely to blame. I did not expect the Titanian to develop the power of force field generation. But there is a chance the situation might yet be salvaged." The beginnings of a new scheme crept into his mind. "Leave me", he commanded. "I must think on this further. And consider yourself fortunate that you do not have to face my wrath. Use your second chance wisely. Now go."

They obeyed, scrambling out of the room.

"Great going, Esper", said Emerald Empress sarcastically. "Letting Saturn Girl into your head to see all the facts and find out about Mr. Know-it-all was a brilliant move."

"Shut up, Empress", Esper growled. "It was a mistake, all right? You didn't know she could create force fields either."

"Speaking of which", said Tyr, "how did she manage to do that?"

"We gave it to her", replied Tharok. The others stared at him.

"Say what?" exclaimed Mano.

"When Emerald Empress managed to break through her defenses that day on Rawl, you were getting close to something big, weren't you?" asked Tharok.

"Yeah, the building of Legion HQ", said Emerald Empress. "That would have done wonders for our cause, if only that infuriating little brat hadn't gone and spoiled it all by generating…"

"Yeah, yeah, we know all about it, Empress", interrupted Tharok. "We were there, remember? Anyway, the point is, that information was obviously extremely valuable to the Legion, and Saturn Girl was trying her hardest to stop us from getting it. So she managed to concentrate hard enough to create a force field in a last, desperate attempt to protect that knowledge. And though it nearly killed her, once she did it, it stuck with her. Someone must have been training her how to use her new power, 'cos she's as good at it as she is at telepathy. We were idiots not to expect it", he concluded.

"So you're saying we gave her a new weapon?" asked Hunter. "No wonder the boss is mad at us."

"It doesn't matter", said Esper firmly, with a frightening glint in her dark pink eyes. "It doesn't matter if Saturn Girl's got a new power. Because next time we meet, I will have my revenge."

* * *

They were silent. They were all silent. Only Lightning Lad's eyes showed sympathy and support. The rest were looking at her in confusion, anxiety, and disbelief.

"We all saw Brainiac 1.0 shut down", Phantom Girl ventured bravely. "He couldn't possibly have…could he?" She looked around uncertainly, but reluctantly shifted her gaze to Saturn Girl's face, afraid of what she would find there. However, the expression on her friend's face eased her slightly – just slightly. There was no disappointment or anger there – but there was hurt. Hurt that they wouldn't – couldn't – believe her. And that was almost worse.

"I don't know", Saturn Girl admitted. Then her voice grew stronger. "But I know what I saw. Brainiac is back, and he's directing the Fatal Five and the LSV and who knows how many other villains. He's smart, he's deadly, and he's methodic. He knows what he's doing, and we need to start making plans of our own if we're going to put him down once and for all."

"And I believe her", Lightning Lad put in. She flashed him a grateful smile.

Another silence as they all contemplated what had been said.

Chameleon Boy broke the stillness. "So…so I guess Brainiac really is back, huh?"

Saturn Girl smiled again, in relief this time. "As much as I hate to say it, yes."

"Man!" exclaimed Cham. "Why can't this guy ever stay dead? First Superman killed him, then Brainy killed him, and he's _still _not through." A merry twinkle crept into his eye as his humor returned. "I guess we've just gotta make sure he can't come back this time."

The tension in the room dissipated after that.

* * *

Brainiac 1.0 clinically observed the holopads before him – the holopads containing all the information he'd gathered on the Legion of Superheroes. Their members, their systems – everything. But it still was not enough. He picked up a holopad, operated it, and scrolled down to the section he desired to examine once more.

There it was. The new information gleaned from Saturn Girl's mind. Esper subduing her was a stroke of luck, even he had to admit that – but didn't this prove it was his destiny to conquer the Legion? With more of this sort of luck, he would be able to formulate a new plan that took into account Saturn Girl's new power and the fact that they knew his identity. Already he had established the first portion. This plan would be even better than his original; it would be one that would allow for any mistakes his imperfect assistants might make. With a plan like that, there was no possibility that he could lose.

And he knew it.

* * *

"If we're going to defeat Brainiac 1.0 once and for all, we're going to need every hand we've got", said Cosmic Boy from the Legion's Mission Monitor Board.

"And more", Dream Girl reminded him.

"Then you tell me where we can get more manpower other than what we already have", demanded Cosmic Boy. "I am not – repeat _not_ –holding Legion auditions. Not only would that require more work, but whoever we recruit is going to be way too inexperienced to deal with someone like Brainiac 1.0."

"For once, I agree with Cosmic Boy", said Lightning Lad.

"Fine", said Dream Girl. "Scratch Legion auditions. We can call in the Legion of Substitute Heroes. They can help."

"Yeah, Infectious Lass can sneeze on Brainiac – who is, I emphasize, a _robot _– and make him sick. _That's _gonna happen."

"Cosmic Boy", said Phantom Girl warningly. "They've already proven they can fight their own battles. Sure, they haven't taken on the Fatal Five, but they've dealt with some pretty big stuff while we were busy fighting Imperiex. They're more experienced now, and I hear they can all control their powers, even the newer members. We should give them a chance."

Cosmic Boy looked miffed, but then he conceded, "You're right. But there're only ten of them. We need more…powerhouses. Look", he added as he saw the expressions on his teammates' faces, "the Subs are great, and they can definitely help, but that doesn't change the fact that we need a bit more power than just them alone."

"We've got a Superman in the 21st century and a Superman in the 41st century", Dream Girl suggested sweetly. "Is that enough power for you?"

"No." It was not Cosmic Boy who spoke this time, but Saturn Girl. "We need more than power. We need intellect." She looked around. "We need Brainiac 5."

* * *

**_A/N: Ah, yes, Brainiac 5. How could I not put him in? He'll appear in the next chapter, coming up tomorrow. And yes, there are now ten members of the Legion of Substitute Heroes. Who are the extra five? Wait and see! By the way, the numbers in the title are separated by a period, not shown here for some reason. It should actually read, _**_Brainiac 1.0. _**_Thanks to _**_The Violet Rose, Lillywhitecherub, **and **xXKazaneXx **for reviewing. **_

**Disclaimer: Arghh! I'd love to bring back season 3 of the **_Legion of Superheroes, _**but I can't, 'cause I don't own the show.**


	8. Recruitment

**Chapter 8**

Brainiac 5 fiddled with the two wires, contemplating which one would produce the best results in the supercomputer he was constructing. One wire was copper and the other was brass. He knew from experience that copper was a better conductor, but brass might be just the thing to prevent a short circuit from the enormous power that would run through the computer.

_But isn't it the purpose to make a supercomputer with fast reflexes? _a voice in the back of his mind said. _For that purpose, copper would be best._ But still – a short circuit and a complete shut down was a definite possibility for a computer of this power.

After doing some quick thinking that lasted no more than 4.0986 seconds, Brainy decided on a compromise: a copper conductor, but with a brass wire curled around it. That combination would allow for instantaneous reflexes, but the brass would keep the extra power from short circuiting the thing. He fixed the two wires into place and melded the inner casing onto them, followed by the outer covering. Then he switched it on and tested his invention. It worked – of course.

_There. _He leaned back against his chair in satisfaction. Another invention completed. Another hefty pay of credits that were necessary for the transactions he made every day. _Odd_, he thought, _that humans require so much to survive and yet their mental capacity is not as fully developed as it could be. But then again, they are also capable of great courage, deep feelings, and extraordinary determination. _Then he smiled rather ruefully. He'd done it again. He had to get used to the idea of being human, and stop referring to them as if they were a separate race. Once they had been, but they no longer were – though he was still a twelfth-level intellect.

He lifted his hand and fingered the warm metal of the Legion ring he still wore. Though he had set his belt aside, he kept the ring on his finger at all times (though he had turned off the immediate response system) – the only remaining connection between him and the Legion. _And yet, I have never used it to contact them. Nor they me._

He suddenly sat upright, staring at his ring. Was he seeing things? Yes, he must be – he must have imagined it because he was thinking of his friends. Emotions were such strange things, playing tricks on your brain – but wait! There it was again. The tiny blinking light, accompanied by the small beep that signaled a call.

His five-month old human heart beating faster than usual, his airway channeling short, anticipating breaths, he reached for the ring to press down on the tiny button behind it that would reactivate the system that had governed it in its Legion days.

* * *

"Come on, Brainy", muttered Saturn Girl as she stood before the communication screen after dispatching a call to their former teammate's signal ring. "Pick up."

"You sure he hasn't stored the thing away in a vault or something?" asked Lightning Lad, who was standing beside her and looking up at the screen with equal anticipation.

"He wouldn't do that", replied Saturn Girl immediately. "His belt maybe, but not his ring – Brainy!"

For Brainiac 5 had at last answered the call, the plasma screen displaying the face that had been missing so long from the Legion.

"Saturn Girl?" Brainy's now flesh-and-blood green face was surprised. His eyes roamed around, seeing the seven Legionnaires standing in front of the screen. Then his face broke into a wide grin. "It is wonderful to see you again."

"The feeling's mutual, Brainy", Saturn Girl replied sincerely.

"Yeah", agreed Lightning Lad. "I never thought I'd say it, but I've kind of missed your green face and non-English explanations."

"They were always in English, Lightning Lad", said Brainy, sounding amused. "They were simply a branch of the language that you didn't understand."

"Well, I –" began Lightning Lad in indignation. He stopped. "Aw, forget it. It's great to see you."

The other Legionnaires beamed at their Coluan-turned-human friend, genuinely pleased.

"It's too bad Shrinking Violet isn't here, she'd love to talk to you", teased Colossal Boy, who was rewarded with a faint blush on Brainy's cheeks.

Cosmic Boy cleared his throat rather pointedly. "Uh, Brainy…" he began. "Do you think you could come back to the team?"

"Now?" Brainy sounded uncertain. "I know I said I would return, and I know it's been some time, but I'm just not sure –"

"I really, really hate to say this, Brainy", cut in Phantom Girl, "but we're having a bit of a problem with your…ancestor." She and the other Legionnaires held their breaths, waiting for the shock they knew would come.

"My ancestor?" repeated Brainy in confusion. "If you mean Brainiac 1.0, he was destroyed five months ago."

"That's the problem", said Dream Girl. "See, he's sort of come back to life – don't ask us how, we haven't a clue – and he's leading the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains against us. He's got some sort of plan, and it definitely can't be good."

Brainy was silent for a while as he processed the news. Was he going to be haunted by his evil parent forever?

"Brainy, I know it's a lot to take in", said Saturn Girl gently, "but unfortunately it's all true. We wouldn't be bothering you if we didn't need you. And…" She paused for a second. "…we miss you."

Brainy felt, to his annoyance, his eyes mist up. Why did human emotions have to be such a strong force?

"Yeah", added Chameleon Boy. "So, uh, will you come back? Please?" He put on his best puppy-dog face.

"Well", began Brainy slowly, "I _have _been feeling rather homesick lately…"

Wide smiles appeared on everybody's faces.

"…so I suppose there's no better cure for it than to come home", Brainy finished, a smile appearing on his own face.

Cheers erupted from the seven Legionnaires. Brainy felt like rejoicing himself.

"I'll let the others know", Cosmic Boy promised. "Welcome back, Brainy."

After the goodbyes were exchanged, they broke communication. Dream Girl disappeared and returned a few minutes later carrying a time-bubble device. It was time to get Superman.

"Time setting?" inquired Dream Girl, holding the device in her hand.

"21st century, obviously", said Lightning Lad.

"Yes", said Dream Girl patiently, "_When _in the 21st century? I could set this thing to 2099, you know."

"Just set it to about five months after the time Superman returned to", said Saturn Girl. Dream Girl raised an eyebrow.

"You want to set the same period of time that we've experienced for him?"

Saturn Girl shrugged. "Just a feeling."

"Okay", Dream Girl said. "September 2008*, here we come." She pressed the button to activate the device, and she and Colossal Boy disappeared.

* * *

_Unbelievable. _Superman shook his head as he watched Livewire** being escorted away by the policemen. The electricity-controlling woman was an expert at her craft, but so was Lightning Lad, one thousand years in the future, and Superman had seen enough to know how to put Livewire down.

Superman sighed. He missed the Legion. It'd been five months since he'd seen them last. _I wonder if I'll have to wait another couple of years before we meet again. _He supposed that was one of the downsides of being friends with a super-powered group of teens from the far future. But downside or not, they sure had taught him a lot. Absorbed in his thoughts, and preparing to fly off to find somewhere secluded to slip into his Clark Kent persona, he didn't notice two people in nondescript clothing creep up beside him.

"Hi, Clark."

Superman jumped back in surprise and couldn't stop a small yelp. Fortunately, no one seemed to notice. He spun around to face the voice and looked into the grinning faces of Dream Girl and Colossal Boy.

For a moment, all he could do was stare. Then he cracked a wide smile. Looking around to make sure no one saw, he grabbed both of them and flew up to the roof of a tall building nearby before setting them down.

"We have flight rings, you know", said Dream Girl, amused. "It wasn't really necessary for you to carry us."

"Ah, well…" Superman looked sheepish. "So what gives? What are you doing here? Did you just decide to creep up to me and surprise me out of my skin?"

"Oh, we wish", said Colossal Boy, looking serious. "No, it's more than that."

Superman sighed. He really wished that just once, he could get together with the Legion again without having to help them defeat another psychotic villain. "Who is it this time?"

"Brainiac", Dream Girl supplied simply.

"Okaaay", said Superman slowly. "I'm guessing you mean there's a problem involving Brainy, because the original Brainiac was defeated in the future five months ago, and none of his other descendants have caused any trouble as far as I know…"

"No, we _mean_ Brainiac", interrupted Colossal Boy. "1.0. Well, actually he's Brainiac 6 now, but you get the idea."

"You're kidding, right?" said Superman, looking from one Legionnaire to the other. "We all _saw _Brainy's evil ancestor be destroyed by Brainy himself – heck, I was there in his mind when it happened."

"I really wish we were, Superman", said Dream Girl. "But unfortunately, it's true. Brainiac 1.0 resurrected himself somehow – as Brainiac 6. He's broken the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains out of Takron Galtose and he's giving them commands. They've been causing trouble all over New Metropolis, they nearly killed Saturn Girl and they attacked Legion HQ…"

"Whoa, wait. They _what_!"

"Attacked Legion HQ", replied Dream Girl.

"No, before that. You said they nearly…"

"Killed Saturn Girl? Yeah", said Colossal Boy.

"Is she all right? What happened?"

"They wanted information, and when Esper managed to defeat Saturn Girl in a little battle – yes, she did it again, don't ask me how", said Dream Girl, "- their 'master', a.k.a. Brainiac 1.0, ordered them to get it from her mind. But don't worry, she's fine now, that was three months ago, and she managed to protect the most vital information."

"Okay." Superman couldn't think of anything else to say. All the news was making his head spin. "And you're only asking me for help now because…"

"Because Saturn Girl only just managed to find out from Esper that Brainiac's been directing all their movements", said Colossal Boy. "Before that, he stayed incognito; we hadn't a clue what was going on. Now we're calling in everyone we can get – you, Kell-el, the Subs, Brainy…"

"Okay, hold it", Superman cut in. "How much time exactly has passed since I left?"

"Five months", Dream Girl replied. "Saturn Girl had a feeling we should get you five months later too."

"Why does all this seem to center on Saturn Girl?" Superman asked shrewdly. Dream Girl and Colossal Boy looked at each other, only now realizing the whole picture.

"Now that's odd", said Colossal Boy. "It does all seem to involve her, doesn't it?"

"Something strange is going on", Dream Girl agreed, feeling her premonition return again. Darn that foreboding sense. Why couldn't she figure out what it meant?

Superman looked from her to Colossal Boy. He had a nagging feeling this was significant, but they didn't have time to figure it out now, time-space continuum or not. "Never mind. Let's just go."

"All right", Colossal Boy agreed, taking out the time-bubble device.

He operated it, and there was a flash of light, then they were gone, leaving the rooftop quite empty.

* * *

**_A/N: Okay, for once, not such a drastic cliffhanger. Oh, well. Oh, yeah, September 2008 is five months after the original run of _**_Legion of Superheroes **ended, so I chose that time. And Livewire is an enemy of Superman (that much is obvious). I was searching **Wikipedia **for a Superman villain that wasn't too much trouble, and she fit the bill. Thanks to **The Violet Rose, xXKazaneXx, **and **Lillywhitecherub **for reviewing. I'd also like to thank them additionally for reviewing on almost every chapter. Thanks guys!**_

**Disclaimer: Don't own it...**


	9. The Legion of Substitute Heroes

**Chapter 9**

"Magenta, ochre, indigo, russet, maroon, forest green…" chanted Color Kid as he flicked his hand with each color, making the chair change hues from his seat on the couch.

Stone Boy, who was sitting on that self-same chair reading, looked up in exasperation. "Will you quite making the armchair change color already?" he cried. "I'm trying to read here!"

"I'm bored, Stone Boy", said Color Kid, shrugging. "This is the only entertainment I've got."

"Ever tried reading a book?" Stone Boy asked dryly.

"Nah. That's too boring. I need action."

"Well, go find action somewhere else, because _I_ want to read. And _stop changing the color!_"

"Oh, all right", said Color Kid, dropping his hand and stopping the chair's color-change at a brilliant orange. "If you feel that strongly about it…"

"I do."

"I'll go find something else to do." He got up and walked to the door, but before he reached it, it swung open to reveal an overly excited Porcupine Pete.

"Guys!" he exclaimed. "Cosmic Boy's here!"

"What?" said Stone Boy, his book forgotten.

"Come on, let's go!" cried Pete, grabbing Color Kid and speeding through the hallway.

"Ouch!" said Color Kid. "Pete, quills!"

"Oh, sorry."

They reached the main room, which Cosmic Boy was already in, along with Chlorophyll Kid, Infectious Lass, Fire Lad, Night Girl, Polar Boy, Antenna Lad, and Double-Header (the last five of which joined the Subs after being rejected in their Legion audition somewhere between the Legion of Substitute Heroes' inception and the present).

"Oh, there you are", said Cosmic Boy as Pete, Color Kid, and Stone Boy entered. "Good. As I was just telling the others, we're facing a new threat in Brainiac 1.0, who has somehow resurrected himself as Brainiac 6 after being destroyed five months ago, and we need all the help we can get."

"Wait, you mean Brainiac 5's evil ancestor came back to life?" asked Chlorophyll Kid.

"Why does everyone call him that?" Cosmic Boy asked exasperatedly of no one in particular. "Yes, he came back to life – don't ask", he added hurriedly as he saw the questioning looks on the Subs' faces. "And he's an even bigger threat than before. We need to put him down for good, and to do that, we need as many people as possible."

"We won't let you down, sir", Pete said enthusiastically with a salute.

"Good to know", said Cosmic Boy, actually sounding sincere. "Report at Legion HQ tomorrow morning at nine. We've got plans to make, and it would help if everyone got acquainted with everyone else."

"We'll be there", Pete promised, before anyone else could say anything.

* * *

Superman, Dream Girl, and Colossal Boy appeared in a bright flash of light right in the middle of the main room of Legion HQ. At the time of their arrival, only Phantom Girl was in the room, in front of the Mission Monitor Board.

"Superman!" she exclaimed when she saw him. She nearly bowled him over with a bear hug. "It's good to see you again."

"Where's everybody else?" inquired Superman, looking around the otherwise empty room.

"Cosmic Boy went over to the Legion of Substitute Heroes' Headquarters, Chameleon Boy's gone back to Durla to inform R.J. Brande of the situation, and Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl are on scout duty", Phantom Girl replied.

"How _is_ Saturn Girl?" Superman asked.

"Oh. I suppose Dream Girl told you?" Phantom Girl eyed the Naltorian.

"Yeah."

"Well, she's better than ever. Did Dream Girl also tell you she can now generate force fields?"

"No."

"Well, she can. And not just thought blasts, either. Real, strong force fields, which can defend and attack."

"You guys brought Kell-el in yet?" queried Colossal Boy.

"No, not yet", responded Phantom Girl. "But Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl should be back soon. Then we can go get him. Speaking of which", she added as the two entered.

"City's clear, as far as we can tell", said Lightning Lad. "Hiya, Supes."

Saturn Girl rolled her eyes at the nickname and smiled at Superman. "Welcome back. And before you ask, I'm _fine_."

"Excellent", said Phantom Girl. "Shall we go get Kell-el now?"

"Dream Girl and I'll stay here", volunteered Colossal Boy.

"I'll stay behind too", said Saturn Girl.

"If you say so." Phantom Girl turned to Dream Girl. "Can I have my time-bubble device back?"

Dream Girl handed it over.

"All right, time setting, 4008. Global coordinates…?" Phantom Girl looked inquiringly at Lightning Lad, who thought for a while before he hesitantly named the longitude and latitude.

"You are sure these are right, aren't you?" queried Phantom Girl as she punched in the coordinates.

"It was a 41st century New Metropolis as far as I could tell, all right?" said Lightning Lad. "We'll just hope for the best."

"Okay. You coming, Superman?"

"Sure."

Phantom Girl pressed the button and she, Superman, and Lightning Lad vanished.

Suddenly, the alarm sounded.

"Let me guess", said Saturn Girl wearily. "The Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains?"

"Close", replied Colossal Boy. "It's the LSV, minus the Fatal Five. They're downtown at the Superman museum."

"Why do these guys always pick the most inopportune moment to strike?" groaned Dream Girl.

"You can blame Brainiac 1.0 for that", said Saturn Girl, already moving. "Contact Cosmic Boy, tell him we've got a situation downtown." She paused. "On second thought, tell him to bring in the Subs. Let's see how they do. They should know who they're up against, anyway."

"That might be a good idea", agreed Dream Girl. "We can hold up the LSV for a while."

"You go on ahead", said Colossal Boy. "I'll call CB One and catch up to you in a few minutes."

Saturn Girl nodded. "All right, let's go."

* * *

Cosmic Boy was just getting ready to leave the Subs' Headquarters when he got Colossal Boy's call.

"The LSV are what?" he demanded.

"They're wrecking the Superman museum", Colossal Boy's holographic image replied. "Saturn Girl and Dream Girl have gone to head them off. Saturn Girl said to bring in the Subs."

"Did she? All right, we'll be there as soon as possible." Cosmic Boy ended the call and looked around at the expectant faces of the Substitute Heroes.

"All right, here's the thing", said Cosmic Boy. "We've got a situation downtown. The Legion of Supervillains is wrecking the Superman museum and causing all sorts of havoc. We're a bit shorthanded, so you're up."

"All right!" exclaimed Porcupine Pete, punching his fist in the air.

"Keep in mind", Cosmic Boy interjected quickly, "The LSV are dangerous. They're not a minor issue like Starfinger – they're a major problem. So you're going to need your wits about you, and don't get overconfident."

"We hear you", said Pete, already heading for the hangar where their one and only cruiser was parked. "Let's go, Subs!"

* * *

Esper scanned the sky for any signs of the Legion – specifically one Legionnaire in particular.

"Forget it, Esper", said Tyr as he shot a blast in the road, making a rocky pothole. "The boss doesn't want you to do anything you're not supposed to on this trip. Besides, he said we'd get our revenge soon enough – and that includes yours."

"Which I could be planning instead of carrying out these stupid diversions", Esper retorted. "But I won't do anything rash – this time."

"Legionnaires, ten o' clock!" Hunter warned. His teammates looked up to see Saturn Girl and Dream Girl speeding toward them.

"Why, there's only two of them", Wave said incredulously. "They are getting confident to the point of being arrogant, aren't they?"

"More likely they're shorthanded", said Esper. "Much as I hate to admit it, Saturn Girl isn't a fool."

"Well, this oughta be fun", said Tyr, grinning wickedly.

Before they could mobilize completely, however, the Legion of Supervillains found themselves enveloped in a translucent force field.

"Curse Saturn Girl!" Esper cried, scrabbling at the field.

"Never mind", said Tyr, aiming at it with the weapon that was his right arm. "I bet she can't hold it up if we shoot it. Hunter!"

Hunter began slashing at the field as Tyr started shooting, but after a few seconds, it vanished.

"There, what did I tell – hey, where'd they go?" Tyr looked up.

"Right here, ugly", Dream Girl announced as she kneed his head from behind. Moving faster than the rest of the LSV could react, she then tripped Esper and slammed into Ron-Karr as Saturn Girl joined her and kicked Hunter. A few seconds later, Colossal Boy came onto the scene, punching Wave out of the way.

"Hey!" exclaimed Ron-Karr as he turned his hand into a giant pincer and pinched at Dream Girl.

"Ouch!" she cried. She slapped the pincer away.

Meanwhile, as Saturn Girl fought with Hunter, Esper got to her feet and prepared to mind-blast the Legionnaire. But then a large, sharp, quill drove into her back.

"OW!" she yelled. She plucked the quill out and looked around for her assailant. Then she spotted Cosmic Boy and the ten Substitute Heroes. Saturn Girl and Dream Girl retreated, as did Colossal Boy and Cosmic Boy.

The Legion of Supervillains was now facing the Legion of Substitute Heroes for the first time.

* * *

**_A/N: I'm in a real hurry, so I have to go. Thanks to all who reviewed!_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything - well, except the story plot.**


	10. Bits and Pieces

**Chapter 10**

"Wow", said Lightning Lad as he looked around. "This place looks a whole lot nicer than the last time I was here."

"This is the 41st century without Imperiex", Phantom Girl reminded him, stowing away the time-bubble device. "So, where do we find Kell-el?"

"Somebody looking for me?" a voice behind them said.

They spun around and saw Kell-el, with a half-amused, half-resigned expression on his face.

"Hi there, Kell-el", greeted Superman.

"Everything okay here?" Phantom Girl asked.

"Yeah, now that Imperiex is gone. But I'm assuming this isn't just a social visit?"

"Anything but", Lightning Lad agreed. "Do you remember Brainiac 1.0?"

"Brainiac 5's inner demon?"

"You could call him that. Anyway, he's not so much of an inner demon anymore. He's somehow brought himself back to life, and now he's a separate, very real person – and a big threat."

"Great", said Kell-el sarcastically. "It's never an easy one, is it?"

"Unfortunately, no", answered Superman.

"Okay", Kell-el sighed resignedly, "I suppose we'd better go."

* * *

"Ah-choo!" sneezed Wave after Infectious Lass' purple glop of viruses hit her, effectively incapacitating her. Near her, Tyr had been pinned down by Porcupine Pete's quills, but though that didn't hold him long, when he finally blasted the last of the spikes away, Stone Boy kicked him – hard (he now had the ability to move while in rock-state).

Esper was concentrating on defending herself from Double-Header's two-head attacks, but then a freezing blast of wind from Polar Boy took her off guard long enough for Double-Header to knock her out. Night Girl was totaling Ron-Karr in the darkness of an enormous clump of plants created by Chlorophyll Kid, and Fire Lad and Color Kid downed Hunter after Antenna Lad tuned in to a frequency where a particularly shrill, screechy song had temporarily deafened the LSV member.

"All right!" exclaimed Pete. "Great work, Subs. Now we can – huh?" For the LSV had suddenly disappeared. "Where'd they go?"

"That would be Brainiac 1.0", answered Cosmic Boy. "He'll have teleported them back to wherever he is. But good work." He sounded impressed. "Since you're here, you might as well come back to Legion HQ with us."

"Awesome!" said Double-Header's right head.

"Double awesome!" added the left head.

* * *

"Hey, where is everyone?" Phantom Girl looked all around the empty Legion HQ.

"They must be out on a distress call", Lightning Lad reasoned. "What do you say we go see if it's the LSV or the Fatal Five?"

"No need for that, Lightning Lad. We've taken care of it."

_Wait a minute, _thought Lightning Lad. _That can't be…can it? _"Pete?" he asked incredulously as the Subs, Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy, Colossal Boy, and Dream Girl appeared in the doorway.

Porcupine Pete grinned from ear to ear. "Hear that, guys?" he asked delightedly, nudging Chlorophyll Kid with his elbow. "He remembers me!"

_'Course I do, _Lightning Lad thought. _I got stabbed with one of your spikes! _Out loud, he said, "Who was it? The LSV or the Fatal Five?"

"It was the Legion of Supervillains, if that's what you mean", replied Antenna Lad.

Lightning Lad looked surprised. "You took down the Legion of Supervillains? By yourself?"

"Well, there were five of them and ten of us, it wasn't that hard", Polar Boy shrugged.

"Whoa!" said Color Kid, who had only just noticed Superman and Kell-el. "I'd say I was seeing double, but you look too different. Still, how come there are two of you?"

"Kell-el was created from my DNA", Superman explained. "He's from the 41st century."

"Oh. So the rumors were true?" asked Chlorophyll Kid.

"Some of them."

"What are we going to do now?" Infectious Lass wanted to know. "Cosmic Boy said this wasn't all that's going on."

"No, it isn't", Saturn Girl told them. "It's much bigger, involving one of the most dangerous villains we've ever encountered. We're grouping everyone together tomorrow morning for a meeting to decide on a plan of action. For now, keep your eyes open, and watch each other's backs."

* * *

Saturn Girl stood on the roof of Legion HQ, looking down on the city of New Metropolis. The evening was cool, and a breeze blew gently as the sun set, but for Saturn Girl, there was no peace.

"I can sense you, you know", she said. She turned.

Lightning Lad grinned sheepishly. "I wondered if you would."

Giving him a small smile, Saturn Girl shifted her gaze back to the city.

"You okay?" Lightning Lad asked in concern, walking over to stand next to her.

"Yes…maybe…I don't know", Saturn Girl admitted. "It's this whole Brainiac 1.0 situation. It gives me the creeps. I have a feeling this is much, much more than it seems. And I also get the vague impression that somehow, this is all connected to me."

"You?" Lightning Lad was surprised and a little apprehensive, for he too had a sense of foreboding that was linked to Saturn Girl. "Why would it be connected to you?"

"I don't know", sighed Saturn Girl. "I really don't. But even Dream Girl admitted she's been having a sort of premonition about me – no dreams, but a strong, intuitive feeling. And I can't shake the sensation that I'm somehow more deeply involved in all of this than anyone else."

"That doesn't make much sense", Lightning Lad remarked.

"I know it doesn't. And I have no idea why I feel this way. But I can't explain it any better."

She fell silent as the sky began to darken, and Lightning Lad remained quiet as well, but at length he said, "Saturn Girl, even if you _are _connected to everything that's happening somehow, you know you can count on me." _Oh, wonderful! You couldn't come up with anything better?_

However, Saturn Girl didn't think he needed to. "Thank you, Garth", she said sincerely. She looked back out at the almost dark sky, her hand brushing lightly against Lightning Lad's as she did so, and for a moment, they looked into each other's eyes, each feeling the rush of new emotions that were suddenly springing from hidden corners of their hearts.

* * *

The next morning, at 8:55, the Subs showed up at Legion HQ for the meeting.

"You're early", Cosmic Boy remarked as he let them in.

"It's an important meeting", said Pete solemnly.

"Isn't everyone supposed to be here?" asked Fire Lad, looking around the room, where Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Dream Girl, Colossal Boy, Chameleon Boy (who had returned from Durla), Superman, and Kell-el were already seated.

"The others will be present on digital screens", Cosmic Boy explained. "It would be rather impractical for all the Legionnaires to abandon their posts and flock to Earth."

"Oh. Right."

Color Kid was looking around the place with an air of interest. "This place looks a bit different. Did you guys do some renovating?"

"Had to", replied Chameleon Boy. "The place was totally thrashed by Imperiex."

"And you got it up and working again in five months?" Antenna Lad asked in awe.

Cham shrugged. "We had help. And it was less than five months."

"Cool!"

"Uh, where's Saturn Girl?" asked Polar Boy, looking around.

"She's outside, waiting for Brainiac 5", answered Phantom Girl.

Just then a digital screen opened up, bearing the image of Shrinking Violet. "Hi guys!" she said cheerily. "Brainy here yet?"

"Soon", Colossal Boy responded, stifling a small chuckle.

"Oh." Violet looked slightly disappointed. Within the next few minutes digital images of several other Legionnaires appeared – Bouncing Boy, Triplicate Girl, Star Boy, Dawnstar, Tyroc, XS, Ultra Boy, Nemesis Kid, and Chemical King*. These were joined by images of Timber Wolf, Sun Boy, Karate Kid, Wildfire, Element Lad, Blok, Invisible Kid, and Matter-Eater Lad. It was now 9:04, but there was still no sign of Brainiac 5.

They waited a few more minutes, but then Cosmic Boy grew impatient. "All right, Brainy probably got held up or something, but we can't wait forever, so –"

_He's here. _The thought echoed clearly in everyone's heads as Saturn Girl's telepathic message reached them. The ones physically present in the room relayed the message verbally to those on digital screens, since Saturn Girl's telepathy did not reach them.

Brainiac 5 had returned.

* * *

**_A/N: Ah, yes, reunion at last! And romance too, of course. By the way, I've listed all the Legionnaires who appeared on the show in some form, either as cameos or if they were mentioned at all (with the exception of Ayla Ranzz, a.k.a Light Lass - hello, she's like eight! I can't satisfactorily explain that). I had to check Wikipedia. Thanks to _**_The Violet Rose **for reviewing. She's my most faithful reviewer so far - every single chapter! Follow her example (hint hint).**_

**Disclaimer: Now really, why would I post this up on FanFiction if I could make it into a movie or a Season 3 or something?**


	11. Reunion

**Chapter 11**

Brainy hitched up his bag as he wound his way in the streets of New Metropolis. It felt strange being here again. Nobody paid any attention to him but he still felt like an outsider. The last time he had been here, he had not stayed long, and then he had never returned – until today.

And the Legion. How would they react when he appeared? Would they resent him for everything that had happened? _But,_ he reasoned silently, _they called me. They want me back._

Sighing, he paused for a minute as the large white structure that was Legion HQ came into view. A lump rose in his throat as he realized that all his friends were in there, and it had been five months since he had last seen any one of them. Then he quickly swallowed the lump. Curse human emotions! Would he ever get used to them?

He made his way slowly, purposefully. About twenty feet away from the entrance he noticed Saturn Girl.

"Brainy!" she exclaimed when she saw him. She rushed toward him and hugged him tightly. "It's so good to see you again!"

Feeling awkward and confused, Brainy grappled with his emotions for a while before giving it up and returning the hug. "I've missed you too, Saturn Girl."

"Come on, Cosmic Boy's getting impatient." Saturn Girl led him to the room where everyone was gathered.

Brainy was not prepared for what he saw in the room. Not only was everyone from the Legion – including Superman and Kell-el – and the Substitute Heroes there, but they were all beaming, expressions of joy and glee on their faces. To Brainy, Shrinking Violet's huge smile was the widest, though she was on a digital screen. Even Cosmic Boy's face, which had beheld impatience so soon before, now showed nothing but pleasure.

"Welcome back, Brainy", everyone chorused at almost the same time.

Brainy honestly didn't know what to say. For the first time in his life, he was at a loss for words – he, Brainiac 5, twelfth-level intellect from the planet Colu. "Um…hi", he said finally.

"Good to have you back too, Brainy. Come sit down. The meeting's about to begin", said Lightning Lad, relieving the Coluan of the need to say anything else.

"Okay…ahem." Cosmic Boy cleared his throat, attracting everyone's attention. The Legionnaires fell silent, turning their focus to their leader.

"As most of you already know, Brainiac 1.0 has somehow returned from the dead", began Cosmic Boy. "He's got the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains on his side, and probably hundreds of robots. We need all the information we can get about him, his allies, and what he's planning if we're going to bring him down for good this time. He's been menacing the universe long enough." Murmurs of general assent rippled through the room and from the digital images.

"Cham", said Cosmic Boy, "Make your report."

Chameleon Boy stood up and announced, "I've alerted my dad – I mean, R.J. Brande – to the situation. He's asked me to tell you that he'll back us and that he'd be happy to help out in any way he can."

Cosmic Boy nodded. "Anybody else got any news?"

"If Brainiac 5 can create a device that can amplify my powers", said Dawnstar from her screen, "I might be able to track Brainiac 1.0. So far, I haven't found anything because I can't detect anything that could lead to his whereabouts, probably because they're too minute."

"Brainy…" said Cosmic Boy.

"I'll see what I can do", Brainy replied.

"These attacks by the Fatal Five and the LSV are diversions", said Saturn Girl. "They're distracting us from focusing on the real issue, and Brainiac knows this. It might be a good idea to have a team who can deal them while the rest of us focus on finding out more about Brainiac 1.0."

"That is a good idea", Cosmic Boy agreed. "Subs, you think you can handle it if I put a few Legionnaires with you?"

"Yes, sir!" said Porcupine Pete enthusiastically.

"All right, Colossal Boy and Chameleon Boy, you're with the Subs. Karate Kid, Nemesis Kid, it would be good if you could come back to Earth to help them out too. And er, Kell-el…"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll keep an eye on them", Kell-el said.

"Thank you. Does anybody else have anything to say?" Cosmic Boy looked around. No one spoke up. "All right, then let's start planning a course of action."

"I will work on an amplifying device for Dawnstar and anything else that might help", said Brainy.

"Lightning Lad, Superman, Phantom Girl, Dream Girl and I can scout out the city daily for any clues", offered Saturn Girl.

"Count me out of that", said Phantom Girl. "I'll be heading to the United Planets Official Library. A threat that's been around as long as Brainiac 1.0 has must be described in some records. Maybe I'll find something."

"We'll keep the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains out of your way", Pete said confidently.

"Right", agreed Cosmic Boy. "The rest of you, keep a lookout in space. If you see anything suspicious, let me know immediately. Until we find something, we can't do much more." He looked around, but nobody said anything to contradict him, so he declared the meeting over, and most of the Legionnaires on the digital screens vanished. Shrinking Violet, however, remained present for a while.

"It's nice to see you again, Brainy", she said shyly before closing her screen.

There was a hoot of laughter from Chameleon Boy. Brainy felt a hot flush creeping up his cheeks and he valiantly ignored both it and Chameleon Boy.

* * *

"All right, Tinya, what is it this time? You've been coming here for the past two days in a row." Winema Wazzo stood next to the bookshelf in the Official Library of the United Planets, tapping her fingers on her crossed arms.

"I'm just checking out some books, Mom", Phantom Girl said innocently.

Winema held up a hand. "Please, Tinya, don't insult my intelligence. You never come to the Official Library. What are you up to?"

"It's for the Legion", Phantom Girl admitted.

"And?"

Phantom Girl sighed. "I'm looking for information about Brainiac 1.0."

"Are you expecting to find anything? And why in heaven's name are you checking the background of your friend?"

"Brainiac _1.0_, Mom, not Brainiac 5."

"What are you mixed up in this time, Tinya?"

"It's nothing for you to worry about."

"Tinya Wazzo, it's everything for me to worry about. My daughter's in the Legion of Superheroes and she's suddenly coming to the Official Library of the United Planets in order to look for information on someone when she's never done that before. Now in my opinion, I think that counts as something to worry about. Also, as President of the United Planets, I have a right to know if there's anything threatening the peace and security of the galaxy."

Phantom Girl sighed again. "Okay, fine. There's a big threat to the peace and security of the galaxy, and its name is Brainiac 1.0. The guy's been around since the 21st century, and just recently he brought himself back to life after the Legion destroyed him. He's a big problem, and I'm here to find out if there's anything that might help defeat him."

There was a pause, during which Phantom Girl wondered how her mother would react.

"Check the historical section", Winema suggested. "If this villain's been around as long as you say, there must be something there about him."

"Thanks, Mom", said Phantom Girl, heading away.

"Tinya…"

"Yes?" asked Phantom Girl.

"Be careful."

Phantom Girl rubbed her eyes tiredly before staring down at the dusty old book again. She'd been through about a quarter of the historical section, skimming through old records and documents for any mention of a Brainiac and passing over any that did not deal with anything of the sort. So far, however, she hadn't found anything useful – just several descriptions of battles between Superman and Brainiac, a couple of old stories that had been passed down for generations, a record of Brainiac's lineage, and many other various pieces of inconsequential information. Phantom Girl checked her watch – it was close to midnight. She decided she'd look through a few more books before stopping for the night.

She closed the heavy volume she'd been reading. There was nothing helpful in there. She was just on the point of going to bed then when about a dozen scrolls of frayed, yellow parchment that were wedged into a corner of the bookshelf caught her eye. Pulling them out, she saw that they were prophecies. Most people scoffed at such things and didn't think much about them, saying that they were gibberish and that no one could predict the future (as if! Dream Girl can and does do the exact same thing). After debating with herself for some time, Phantom Girl decided she'd take a short look at them. She wasn't in a position to be picky.

The first two scrolls had nothing of importance to say – just a few paragraphs about a "Protector of the Universe". Phantom Girl was on the verge of putting the prophecies back where they came from when, halfway through the third scroll, she came across a phrase that held her attention. Quickly reading through the rest of the scroll, as well as the one that picked up where it left off, Phantom Girl couldn't believe her eyes.

"No way."

* * *

**_A/N: Again, thank you to all who reviewed!_**

**_...And again, _I don't own **_Legion of Superheroes. **In case you didn't notice, that was the disclaimer. Bye!**  
_


	12. The Protector Revealed

**Chapter 12**

Colossal Boy was tapping his fingers on the table, his eyes on the monitors. It was his turn to keep watch, and so far, it was turning out to be rather boring. He yawned and glanced at the clock. Fifty minutes past midnight. Ten more minutes before he could wake Kell-el for his shift.

Suddenly the alarm rang out loudly as red lights flashed wildly. Colossal Boy jerked upright as Phantom Girl flitted into Legion HQ.

"Call an emergency meeting of the entire Legion! Now!" she cried, ignoring the blaring alarms.

"Phantom Girl!" exclaimed Colossal Boy as he silenced the alarms. "What's going on?"

"Call _everyone_! I don't care if they're asleep or not. This is urgent!" Phantom Girl said, disregarding his question completely as she headed for the bedrooms to wake everyone else. "Just do it!" she added as she saw Colossal Boy getting ready to protest. "Trust me."

Confused, Colossal Boy nonetheless did as he was told, sending a call to every Legion cruiser in space, alerting all the Legionnaires, who appeared on their digital screens. Some of them had been asleep, and they weren't very happy about being woken up, but they stopped yelling when Colossal Boy told them what Phantom Girl had said.

Soon, the others at Legion HQ, including the Subs, Kell-el, Superman, and Brainiac 5, herded in, followed by Phantom Girl.

"What is this all about, Phantom Girl?" Cosmic Boy asked very pointedly as Kell-el stood with his arms crossed, both not taking kindly to being awoken rather roughly in the middle of the night.

"This!" Phantom Girl replied, waving a scroll of prophecy in front of him.

"Interesting…" remarked Brainy, peering at the aged parchment. "Is that a prophecy?"

"Yes, it is", said Phantom Girl.

"In that case, you may want to stop waving it about like that. It's extremely old and fragile; it might just fall apart."

Phantom Girl glared at him, but she stopped waving the scroll.

"Can we stop talking about the prophetic scroll, whatever's in it, and start discussing why we're here?" asked Timber Wolf from his screen.

"Yeah, what's the deal?" demanded Lightning Lad.

"This! This is the deal!" cried Phantom Girl, holding the scroll out. "This prophecy! It's so totally, completely unbelievable, and yet it all makes sense. You guys better prepare yourself for a huge shock. Listen." She cleared her throat and began reading from the parchment.

"'…but a boy from Braal, a boy from Winath, and a girl from Titan, the moon of Saturn, shall form a group of specially gifted individuals which will be known as the Legion of Superheroes. And this group shall operate together as a team to defend the universe from evil and injustice, facing each threat courageously to ensure the safety of the people.'"

There was stunned silence for a while before Sun Boy's digital image said, "Okay, so the Legion was predicted. That's surprising, but what does this have to do with anything and why is it so important that you have to wake us up in the middle of the night?"

"Oh, that was just the starter", Phantom Girl informed him. She set the scroll down carefully and unrolled a second one. "'And behold, within the Legion shall be found the Protector of the Universe, the one whose destiny is greater than the others. Over the years the Legion shall encounter many dangers and treacherous villains, but none as yet shall be great enough to finally reveal the Protector. But yea, one shall come that is named Brainiac, the Mechanical One, he who has lived a thousand years, and he who will be the destruction of all that is known in the universe if he is not defeated by the Protector'", she read.

There was another amazed pause.

"Protector of the _Universe_!" exclaimed Double-Header's two heads simultaneously. "Seriously awesome title!"

"Yes, it's _serious_", snapped Dream Girl. Her premonition once again returned in full force, and a horrible suspicion began to form in her mind. "It's _very_ serious."

"Okay, so who is this 'Protector of the Universe', then?" inquired Superman.

"The scroll reveals that too", said Phantom Girl gravely. Turning back to the parchment, she read one final time, "'Therefore, in time, when the Mechanical One has returned from the depths of space, when these scrolls that bear the prophecies of the ages are discovered by one from the Legion, let it be known then that the Protector, the one destined to confront the Mechanical One in full battle, is none other than the Legionnaire, the Daughter of Titan, she who is known as Saturn Girl.'"

* * *

**_A/N: I'm sorry it's so short, but however much I tried to make it longer, or short enough to fit in Chapter 11, I couldn't. It just wouldn't go. But never fear, the next chapter is coming along tomorrow, so don't kill me. Thanks to _**_The Violet Rose **and **Lillywhitecherub **for their reviews.**_

**Disclaimer: I own nothing here but the story plot.**


	13. Laying Out Plans

**Chapter 13**

_"WHAT!" _

The shout, including the voices of most of the Legionnaires and the Subs, was deafening after the oppressing silence that had shrouded the room after Phantom Girl's startling announcement. Among those who did not join in were Saturn Girl, Superman, Dream Girl, Brainiac 5, and of course, Phantom Girl.

"Phantom Girl, are you sure about this?" Cosmic Boy demanded.

"I'm positive. Look, it's right here", she said, showing him the sentence.

Cosmic Boy took one look and staggered backward a few steps. "Saturn Girl…Protector of…how did this…"

"This is shocking!" Element Lad exclaimed.

"So that's why everything centered on Saturn Girl", said Superman.

"What if Brainiac 1.0 knows about this?" queried XS.

"It would be a disaster!" Tyroc responded.

"This still leaves the matter of how to find Brainiac", Kell-el put in.

"But this changes everything!" Triplicate Girl cried.

The noise rose, as everyone expressed their surprise and amazement. Dream Girl collapsed into a chair, finally knowing what her premonition meant. Cosmic Boy did the same, dumbfounded. Phantom Girl just stood there, watching the commotion she had caused. Lightning Lad, however, looked around for Saturn Girl, who had been beside him just a minute before. Now, though, she was nowhere to be found.

Slipping unnoticed out of the room, Lightning Lad headed for the roof, on a hunch that Saturn Girl would be there.

He wasn't disappointed. There she was, staring out over the city, her face expressionless. Lightning Lad was reminded uncomfortably of the last time they'd been on the roof.

"Imra?" he ventured tentatively. Somehow, he knew this was not the time for codenames. When she didn't answer, he came over to her. "Hey, you okay?"

"I knew it. I knew I was more involved in this than any of you." Her voice was flat and toneless, but Lighting Lad knew her too well.

"Hey, look here." He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her to face him. "It's all right. It doesn't matter if you're the Protector or not. We'll get through this."

Saturn Girl's calm exterior broke, and suddenly she was insecure, uncertain, and apprehensive.

"Why me, Garth?" she asked. "Why is it me? I can't imagine dealing with any of this. You heard the prophecy. If I don't defeat Brainiac, it will mean the end of all that we know. What if I can't do it? What if I fail?"

"You can do it", Lightning Lad said firmly. "And you won't fail. Because you're the strongest person I know. And I'll be right by your side through the whole thing. It'll be all right." He held her tight as she pressed against him. "I promise."

* * *

The Legionnaires in the main room were still in uproar when Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl walked back in. No one seemed to have noticed their absence, and they were no more aware when the two walked in.

_That's enough. _

As soon as the Legionnaires heard the thought in their heads, accompanied by Lightning Lad's loud command, they all fell silent and turned eyes on the duo.

"This endless talk is getting us nowhere", Saturn Girl said firmly. "I understand you're all shocked and surprised – none more so than I – but we don't have time to dwell on it. We've got too much to do. Obviously I'm going to have to fight Brainiac 1.0 sooner or later, but we have to find him first. So why don't we all get some rest before reconvening in the morning?"

"Saturn Girl's right", agreed Cosmic Boy. "Let's sleep on this. We can discuss what to do in the morning." When all the digital Legionnaires had closed their screens, he turned to Saturn Girl. "Saturn Girl, a word alone."

The two of them retreated off to one side where Cosmic Boy began talking to her furiously. Watching them, Lightning Lad felt a pang of jealousy, which he shook off quickly. Cosmic Boy was a good friend, and he'd been friends with Saturn Girl an equally long time. Why should he feel this way? Still, he couldn't help harboring a little envy. Unnoticed by Lightning Lad, Dream Girl was observing him from her seat across the room, a knowing smile on her face.

* * *

The next morning, all the Legionnaires gathered in the main room. Karate Kid and Nemesis Kid had returned to Legion HQ, and the rest of the team were, as usual, looking on from digital screens.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Triplicate Girl from her screen.

"Well –" began Cosmic Boy before he was cut off by Saturn Girl.

"We do what we were planning to do all along. Nothing's changed. We still have to find Brainiac." She glanced pointedly at Cosmic Boy.

Cosmic Boy sighed. "Okay, fine. We do what we were planning to do. Brainy, anything on the amplifying device?"

"I have completed a prototype that is operable", replied Brainy. "However, to farther improve it, I must see how it works with Dawnstar's powers."

"Fine. Dawnstar, how fast can you get back here?" asked Cosmic Boy.

"If I fly on my own, about two hours", she answered.

Cosmic Boy nodded his approval. "Good. Do we know anything new?" he addressed the other Legionnaires.

"There have been sightings of members of the Fatal Five and the LSV all within the asteroid belt near Mars", Ultra Boy responded.

"There's been loads of scrap metal floating in that area too", put in XS.

"And when I'm there, I can almost pick up a trail", added Dawnstar.

"That must be where Brainiac 1.0's base is", concluded Colossal Boy.

"Lightning Lad, anything on the scouting?" inquired Cosmic Boy.

"Nothing much", replied Lightning Lad. "We only spotted Tharok near the junkyard and he disappeared before we could reach him. But Star Boy's team has been monitoring intergalactic activity, and it looks like every now and then the Fatal Five or the LSV attack different planets."

"Whatever for?" Cosmic Boy asked.

"We don't know", Star Boy answered from his screen. "But the attacks don't last very long, and they usually carry something away. Brainiac's obviously building something."

"Wonderful", muttered Cosmic Boy. "Knowing Brainiac, it's probably something powerful, complicated, and dangerous." Thinking quickly, he said in a normal tone, "All right, here's what we're gonna do. I'm going to be reassigning missions within the month, so be ready to move. But for now … Sun Boy, you and your team keep an eye on the asteroid belt. Keep out of sight, but monitor all activity in that area. Star Boy, I need reports of those intergalactic attacks and possibly what was taken. Dawnstar, get back here as fast as you can, so Brainy can perfect the amplifying device. We need to find Brainiac as quickly as we can."

"There might be something else we can do", interjected Chameleon Boy. "If we can find a specific pattern to the attacks by the Fatal Five and the LSV, we might be able to intercept them and find out what Brainiac's building."

"That…is actually a good idea", said Cosmic Boy, surprised that Cham had come up with it.

"It's an excellent suggestion", said Brainy. "It is somewhat of an ingrained habit in Coluans never to do things randomly. Brainiac 1.0 will most likely have a specific design to his actions – or, as the case might be, the Fatal Five's and LSV's actions."

"Star Boy, think you can identify a pattern?" inquired Cosmic Boy.

"Probably", replied Star Boy. "I'll have to look over the reports but I should be able to find a common link."

"Great. The rest of you, keep scouting out possible locations for a base of operations until I reassign you, but don't go too far from the asteroid belt. Sun Boy's team may need your help if it turns out that Brainiac's base really is there."

* * *

The next month was the time during which all the Legion's plans were implemented. Different teams took different assignments. Once Dawnstar arrived on Earth, Cosmic Boy, as he had promised, reassigned all the Legionnaires into new groups.

Lightning Lad was in charge of the team in Legion HQ, which was also occupied by Saturn Girl, Dream Girl, Colossal Boy, Kell-el, and the Subs (whom Cosmic Boy put in Legion HQ as well for the sake of convenience, despite their Headquarters not being very far away). Lightning Lad, Colossal Boy, and Kell-el – and surprisingly, Porcupine Pete too – frequently organized scouting expeditions around Earth to keep an eye on the planet and possibly spot a member of the Fatal Five or the LSV. Saturn Girl was training harder than ever in light of her recently revealed destiny, with help from Dream Girl, who was aiding her in improving her hand-to-hand combat skills as well as her force field generation. Most of the other Legionnaires in and out of Legion HQ were also training rigorously in their spare time, preparing themselves for the big battle against Brainiac and his allies that they knew would come.

Bouncing Boy, Triplicate Girl, Element Lad, Star Boy, Ultra Boy, Tyroc, XS, Timber Wolf, Chameleon Boy, Blok, Karate Kid, and Matter-Eater Lad were monitoring all activity throughout the solar system that contained Earth and the system nearest to it (as they seemed to be the only ones that were attracting attention from the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains) in two separate groups, one led by Bouncing Boy, the other by XS.

Cosmic Boy took command of the team that kept watch on the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This group included Superman, Sun Boy, Shrinking Violet, Nemesis Kid, Chemical King, and Wildfire. Dawnstar and Brainiac 5 were also among them, but unlike the others, they did not monitor the asteroid belt, and frequently took off by themselves in a space pod to test out Brainy's attempts at the perfect amplifying device.

The different teams all communicated regularly, passing information and, in Cosmic Boy's case, orders. Once or twice, Phantom Girl alerted them all to a new piece of knowledge she had gained from the books and holopads at the United Planets' Official Library, to which she and Invisible Kid had returned, at Cosmic Boy's urging, in order to glean more information. However, any potentially useful facts they had come across had yet to help the Legion in any way, as Cosmic Boy told the team at Legion HQ.

"What about you?" inquired Lightning Lad. "Found anything big on your end?"

"I wish", replied Cosmic Boy. "We haven't been able to pick up much. Just several sightings of the Fatal Five or the LSV, and traces of extremely high-tech stealth and cloaking devices. This almost certainly means that Brainiac 1.0 has something of importance located within the belt, but Brainy keeps pointing out that it might simply be a construction hangar for whatever he's building, and not his base of operations."

"Damn", muttered Colossal Boy.

"I'll call you again when I've got more news, and hopefully then it's good news", said Cosmic Boy. "Cosmic Boy out."

The screen blanked, but almost instantly, another call came through. It was Phantom Girl and Invisible Kid, and they looked grim – not a good sign.

"Anything new?" asked Dream Girl, nervous about what she would hear.

"Yes", said Invisible Kid. "And unfortunately, it's not good."

* * *

_**A/N: Thirteenth chapter posted! I know 13 is supposed to be an unlucky number, but I am in no way superstitious, and I have no qualms about saying so. Thanks to **Lillywhitecherub **as well as **TheEclipse **and **Devilbunny, **two new reviewers. Thanks also to **The Violet Rose, **who sent me her review via Private Messages, as she couldn't review properly because of her computer.**_

**Disclaimer: I've said it exactly thirty times, and I'll say it again: I do not own **_Legion of Superheroes._


	14. A Lead at Last

**Chapter 14**

Brainiac 5 kept a close watch on the controller in his hand. Since it regulated the power of the amplifying device Dawnstar was testing within the outer fringe of the asteroid belt, he did not want it to malfunction before he could spot the danger warn Dawnstar. So far, however, it was working perfectly.

"Are you picking up anything, Dawnstar?" he asked through the communicator of the space pod he was in.

Dawnstar, on the outside, the amplifying device attached to her Legion belt, had her eyes closed and was attempting to pick up a trail.

"Almost…there's something, definitely something…it's leading further into the belt…I'm getting the trails of the Fatal Five and the LSV…"

She stopped, frowned, and turned back to the space pod.

"I can't get anything else", she said as she came in. "There's a metallic, mechanical sort of trail, but not much else. But that's an improvement. I think one more prototype will do it."

"Not necessary", contradicted Brainy. "I just need to make a few adjustments to increase the energy flow and place a safeguard against malfunctions. Then it should be in perfect working order and we will finally be able to locate Brainiac 1.0."

"Okay, it's a little confusing, but isn't he Brainiac 6 now?" inquired Dawnstar. "Why's everyone calling him 1.0?"

"His body might be that of Brainiac 6, but his mind is still that of Brainiac 1.0", Brainy explained. "And that's more significant."

* * *

"Are you sure about this?" Colossal Boy asked.

"Positive", answered Phantom Girl.

"Okay, that's it", declared Lightning Lad. "There is just no way in all the freaking galaxies that Saturn Girl's facing Brainiac 1.0 in single combat. Absolutely no way."

"Lightning Lad…" began Saturn Girl.

"Imra, come on. It's bad enough you were supposed to face him alone; now you have to run the risk of dying? It's too much to ask, even if it is the universe."

"Lightning Lad, there was always a risk, and even if you tried, I doubt you could keep it from happening", said Dream Girl gently. "This is more than fate – it's destiny."

"So what? Kell-el was created to kill Imperiex – now he's found himself a new destiny."

"I think that was different, Lightning Lad", said Kell-el. "I didn't have prophecies made about me."

"Lightning Lad", said Saturn Girl again. "Don't you see? It's going to happen whether we like it or not. We can't avoid it." She lowered her head. "I can't avoid it."

Lightning Lad looked torn for a moment before he stalked off, mumbling, "I need some air."

The rest of them (Colossal Boy, Dream Girl, Kell-el, Phantom Girl, and Invisible Kid – the Subs were on scout duty) looked at Saturn Girl.

"I'll go talk to him", she said. "Don't tell anyone else about this just yet." Then she, too, exited the room.

* * *

Lightning Lad made his way to the first place that came to his mind – the roof. He had to get his thoughts sorted out.

When Phantom Girl had first informed them that one of the prophecies stated that Saturn Girl might possibly die in the process o defeating Brainiac 1.0, he was determined to keep her well away from confronting the villain alone. Now, however, as much as he hated to admit it, his teammates were probably right. There was no way he could keep it from happening, even if he tried. Before, he would have scoffed at the idea of a prophecy coming true, but after experiencing first-hand the potential of Dream Girl's dreams and the fact that the Legion had been predicted, he was forced to accept that destiny would run its course, whether he wanted it to or not.

He became aware of someone coming up behind him. Figures. He'd know that light, even step anywhere.

"Garth?"

He didn't speak, but he acknowledged her presence with a slight nod of his head.

Saturn Girl came over to his side. "I'm sorry."

Turning to look at her, he asked, "For what?"

"Everything." She sighed, resting her arms against the ledge. "This whole prophecy business, the fact that everything's basically revolving around me. I know it can't be easy for anyone, especially you."

Lightning Lad ran his hands through his hair. "It never was", he admitted. "And now there's a very serious threat of you not making it out alive. I mean, there's always been a risk, but before it was just a possibility, not a certainty. How can you be so calm?"

Saturn Girl was silent for a while before she replied quietly, "It's the only way I can cope. It's a huge responsibility that came out of nowhere, and sometimes the enormity of it all scares the sprock out of me. When I put on a cool, collected façade, it makes it easier for me to deal with everything. If I let myself dwell on the prophecy for too long, I panic, and that won't help anyone." She paused.

"I know what I have to do, Garth", she continued. "And I also know what it could cost. But I'm prepared to do it, for the good of the entire universe. We formed the Legion to protect the innocents, and that's what I'll do – even if I have to die for it."

"Well", began Lightning Lad, "There's always the chance that you won't." With some effort, he managed a genuine smile. "And I know it would be useless to expect anything less from you."

She smiled back at him, and the two of them put the matter out of their minds and observed the city, content with each other's company. What would be would be, and they would deal with it when the time came.

* * *

Brainy and Dawnstar rushed into the bridge of the cruiser after docking the space pod, very excited about something. Cosmic Boy, picking up on it, sat up straight, instantly alert.

"What is it? What did you find?"

"I've perfected the amplifying device", Brainy replied. "Dawnstar was testing the latest prototype when she picked up a trail."

"What? Where?" Cosmic Boy demanded.

"It's fairly deep within the asteroid belt, but we should be able to get there without much trouble", Dawnstar responded. "Just bear to the right about 57˚ and continue in a fairly straight path, and we'll get there within the hour."

"Right", said Cosmic Boy, quickly programming the flight pattern into the cruiser's system. Leaning over to the intercom, he spoke, "Everyone please report to the bridge. Repeat, everyone please report to the bridge." Turning his attention back to the asteroid belt, which they were now entering, he said, mostly to himself, "I hope this leads to something."

* * *

**_A/N: Yahoo! Fourteenth chapter out! And whoot! There's a new record for reviews on the last chapter! Reviews from five different people! Thanks so much to _**_Lillywhitecherub, The Violet Rose, TheEclipse, Devilbunny, **and **Mirror's Mirage**! **_

**Disclaimer: Since I got so many reviews, and my baby sister was just born last night, I find I can face this disclaimer quite happily. So... I don't own anything.**


	15. Back to Square One

**Chapter 15**

The cruiser stealthily approached an unusual, fairly space within the asteroid belt. The systems Brainy had installed picked up traces of a machine that was generating a reverse gravitational force that was keeping the asteroids away, as well as stealth and cloaking devices.

"Be on your guard, everyone", Cosmic Boy warned. "We don't know what's in there. Remember, we're dealing with Brainiac 1.0. He might have a way of detecting the cruiser, even if it is on stealth mode."

"If we can analyze the energy waves of the devices that are being used, l might be able to override the cloaking system", said Brainy.

"I can analyze them, but I'll have to get out", said Chemical King.

"Violet, go with him in microscopic size", Cosmic Boy ordered. "If Chemical King triggers an alert or a security system while he's analyzing the energy waves, he might need back-up."

Shrinking Violet nodded and followed Chemical King out of the cruiser. Once outside, the latter used his powers to initiate a simple chemical reaction that would take place if certain components were present in the energy waves that were cloaking whatever was being hidden. When that didn't work, he attempted other reactions until he hit on the right one.

"Got it", he said in satisfaction. He relayed the chemical structure of the waves to Brainy, who transferred the data to the computer.

"Can you do it, Brainy?" Superman asked.

"These systems have at least eleventh-level security", replied Brainy, typing codes into the computer. He looked up. "It will take some time, but I should be able to break into them and deactivate the devices."

"Finally, some good news!" exclaimed Wildfire.

"How long approximately, Brainy?" inquired Cosmic Boy.

"About two hours."

* * *

"Excellent", said Brainiac 1.0 as he saw the alert. "We're right on schedule."

The members of the Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains looked confusedly at each other.

"Master, with all due respect", said Tyr, "how is the Legion of Superheroes finding us good?"

"Patience, Tyr", replied Brainiac. "This is all part of my plan for the demise of the Legion. Now quickly, before they come in. Take the machine and follow me."

The Fatal Five and the Legion of Supervillains obediently followed Brainiac 1.0 out of the emergency escape he had installed, Tyr, Hunter, and Persuader carrying a large, oddly shaped metal machine. Leaving the hangar, they disappeared into space, unnoticed by the Legionnaire aboard the cruiser not far away.

* * *

"Lightning Lad!" Night Girl, who had since returned to Headquarters along with the rest of the Subs, maneuvered the corridors of Legion HQ. "Saturn Girl!…Oh, there you are", she added as she spotted the duo around the corner. "Cosmic Boy just called. Brainy's perfected the amplifying device and Dawnstar managed to pick up a trail – they're investigating it now. Cos wants to talk to you."

Lightning Lad glanced at Saturn Girl. She gave him a look in return, accompanied by the almost imperceptible shake of her head that let him know he shouldn't tell Cosmic Boy about the latest development in the prophecy department.

"Okay", said Lightning Lad.

"Finally!" Cosmic Boy exclaimed as his fellow founders entered the main room, where Dream Girl, Colossal Boy, and most of the Subs were already gathered. "Where have you two been?"

"What's up, Cos?" Lightning Lad asked, ignoring the question.

"We're investigating a lead in the asteroid belt", Cosmic Boy answered. "Judging from the traces of stealth and cloaking devices, and the level of security, I'd say there's something pretty big here. Stand by and be ready to move in case we need help."

"All right", agreed Lightning Lad. "Don't worry about it. We've got your back."

Cosmic Boy noticed the way his friend kept glancing at Saturn Girl and suddenly developed a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No", answered Lightning Lad, a little too quickly.

Cosmic Boy put his hands on his hips. "Garth…"

"We'll explain later", Saturn Girl said, knowing full well that the Subs were listening curiously.

Cosmic Boy looked unconvinced, but before he could protest, they heard Brainy's voice.

"I've got it!"

Looking over his shoulder, Cosmic Boy said hastily, "Okay, be prepared. We're going in."

* * *

The large metal construction hangar was empty. There was no one and nothing there.

"Why is there nothing here?" asked Sun Boy as they landed on a platform after Brainy had deemed it safe.

"He knew we were coming", said Brainy, pointing to a box-like metal device on the far wall. "When Chemical King initiated the chemical reactions that allowed us to determine the energy being used, he likely triggered a silent alarm, alerting Brainiac 1.0 to our presence and allowing him to escape with whatever he was building – probably with the Fatal Five and the LSV."

"So we've reached another dead end", Cosmic Boy concluded in frustration.

Brainy, however, was calmer. "He can't hide forever. We'll find him eventually."

When they returned to the cruiser, Cosmic Boy contacted everyone and told them what had transpired, leaving the call to Legion HQ for last.

"There really wasn't anything at all?" Colossal Boy's tone was dejected.

Cosmic Boy sighed. "Nothing", he said. "Brainiac vacated the spot well and truly. Now we're back to square one." He looked straight at Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, who were standing next to each other. "Now, what's going on with you? I know something's come up, and I want answers."

Saturn Girl's eyes glowed pink before nodding to Lightning Lad.

"What was that about?" asked Cosmic Boy suspiciously.

"I put the Subs in a temporary trance. They don't need to know about this; it would only distract them." Saturn Girl was uncomfortable with the notion, but she had no choice. "I'll wake them up when we're done explaining. They won't know anything. For them, these few minutes will never exist."

"Isn't that a little unethical, Saturn Girl?" accused Kell-el.

"It's the only way."

"Enough with all the talk", said Cosmic Boy. "I want answers. Now."

"Is there anyone on your end listening in?" inquired Dream Girl.

Cosmic Boy looked over his shoulder and shook his head. "No. What's with all the secrecy?"

"Well…" began Lightning Lad, "You know how the prophecy says that Saturn Girl's supposed to battle Brainiac 1.0 in single combat?"

"Assuming we manage to locate him."

"Yeah, well, anyways, it turns out it might not go as smoothly as we originally thought." Hoping against hope Cosmic Boy would understand, Lightning Lad knew he should have known he wouldn't. It was, after all, an extremely cryptic way of conveying the message.

"You mean as smoothly as _you _originally thought." Cosmic Boy folded his arms over his chest. "I, for one, never figured it would be easy or smooth at all. The prophecy doesn't say Brainiac will be defeated, only that if he's not, he'll basically destroy the universe as we know it. So don't talk to me about it being smooth, Garth. The fate of the entire universe is resting on this."

"Well, yes, that might be the case, and I hate to add another serious problem to the mix." Lightning Lad took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Basically, Phantom Girl and Invisible Kid found a passage that said that Saturn Girl might…" His throat constricted as he choked over the last word, unable to say it.

Dream Girl finished the sentence for him.

"Die."

Cosmic Boy stood there, gripping the counter for support, unable to say a word. "What?" he asked in a strangled whisper.

"Don't make me say it again", said Lightning Lad as he looked away. It was bad enough hearing it the first time, now he'd had to relay the message. Hearing the words come from his own mouth made it all so much more real, even if it was Dream Girl who had uttered _that word._ Saturn Girl placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, as he had done more than once for her in the past.

"And don't even think about trying to circumvent it", warned Dream Girl. "It's going to happen, one way or another, and it would be best if we just let things be."

"How can you say that?" exclaimed Cosmic Boy. "Don't you even care?"

She gave him a hard, intense look which made him ashamed of what he had just said.

"Of course I do", she said. "But I know better than anyone what it means when the future is revealed. What I see in my dreams is not set in stone; they are just one possible outcome of the course of events. That's why we can change it, make things go in a different direction. But when it comes to prophecies, real, true prophecies that deal with events of such enormous magnitude, there's no stopping what will happen. Think about it. There had to be a force, some sort of higher power that inspired people to write those scrolls and describe events thousands of years before they happened. That power knows what's going to happen – it might even be controlling the course of events – and no matter how much we want to, we can't change that."

He hated to admit it, really hated to admit it, but Cosmic Boy, just as Lightning Lad had been, was forced to concede the truth of the statement. "Who else knows about this?" he asked weakly.

"Just us", answered Colossal Boy. "And Phantom Girl and Invisible Kid."

"Are you planning on telling anyone else?"

"No", replied Saturn Girl. "This doesn't need to become general knowledge. We told you because you're our leader, but more importantly, one of my oldest friends, and you have a right to know."

Cosmic Boy exhaled slowly. "I can't argue with your decision." He paused. "Are you sure you're not going to tell me this is all just a dream, and none of it is real?" he asked hopefully.

Saturn Girl sighed heavily. "I wish I could, Cos", she said softly. "I really wish I could."

* * *

Brainiac 1.0 smiled as he recorded notes on his personal holopad. Today's little excursion by the Legion had gone as planned. They were such predictable creatures. Phase one of his plan was now complete. Things couldn't be more perfect. He was now sitting in his second, larger construction hangar, the one he had had his subordinates build quickly less than a month ago. It was a simple matter, after all, to devise a plan of construction that would take only a little over a week with his intellect, giving him the edge he needed.

Now that the Legion had fallen straight into his trap, he would weave a web of masterful cunning that would leave them confused enough for him to ensnare them even more completely. They could not know what he planned, but he could anticipate their every move. And though his new and improved plan required an extended length of time, it would only make his victory ever sweeter, and even more bitter for the Legion.

"Phase two has now begun."

* * *

**_A/N: Okay, we're slowly getting nearer to the climax of this story, but it won't come for a few chapters yet. I will be slowly building up the suspense and plot so that everything goes smoothly. Right, today, thanks for reviewing goes out to _**_Lillywhitecherub **and **Mirror's Mirage, **as well as **The Violet Rose, **who again had to send me her review in a private message. Thanks to all of you!**_

**Disclaimer: Nope.**


	16. Interval

**Chapter 16**

Brainy leaned back against his chair and sighed. He was in the lab abroad the cruiser, where he had been working overtime for the past week, and it was taking its toll on his body. Now that he was human, he had limitations, and he was still getting used to them – especially the fact that he needed to eat and sleep to live. Right now, he was having problems with the sleeping part. Obviously he could not tax his body as much as he had when he had been fully robot. Closing his eyes as he rested for a while, he let his thoughts wander as he contemplated everything that had happened.

When he'd first turned human and left the Legion, he hadn't had the slightest clue how to take care of his new body. Through trial and error, and through memories of what the other Legionnaires did daily, he slowly learned how to keep himself healthy and well. Accustoming himself to his limits, however, was still something he was not yet used to.

He'd found himself a job in Australia – though he had decided not to remain in New Metropolis, he had not wanted to leave Earth, which had been his home since he'd defected from the Coluan hive mind. Manufacturing supercomputers was hardly a strain for his high intellect, so he quickly advanced his way to the invention department, where he came up with new ideas and technology. He'd also rented a modest apartment not far from the plant where he worked.

When the Legion had called and asked him to return, he had been hesitant, of course, but for more than what his friends thought. He knew they did not blame him for what had happened with Brainiac 1.0, but he did. He should have had better control, put up more resistance…He knew he should not dwell on the past, but he could not help himself. Maybe if he had fought harder, he could have averted the whole situation, and no one would have gotten hurt.

That was why he was reluctant to return to the Legion – he did not think he was worthy to be among them. But hearing their pleas, he had caved in – after all, the Legion was his true family, and really, what sense was there to continue separating himself from them?

Still, he blamed himself. He acted calm and serene on the outside for the benefit of his friends, but he was not so on the inside. He felt even more dejected after his amplifying device had led Dawnstar and the rest of the team to Brainiac 1.0's deserted construction hangar. Even though he knew he could not possibly have known that Brainiac would abandon the place as they broke in, he still berated himself for not anticipating it. Here was his chance, his glorious chance, to finally redeem himself, and then he had fallen short because he had not been able to prevent what had happened. He needed this to work; he needed to be able to make up for losing control – not to redeem himself in the eyes of his teammates, who had forgiven him quickly – but to prove himself, that he could draw confidence from the fact that he had contributed something that would help his friends and finally feel like he was worthy to be a Legionnaire.

He opened his eyes and swiveled his head around as he heard footsteps.

"Oh, sorry, Brainy, did I disturb you?" It was Shrinking Violet, looking as though she might bolt for the door any minute.

Brainy's face softened. "No, not at all. I was just thinking."

"About?" asked Violet as she tentatively came over to sit beside him.

"Um…nothing much." Brainy didn't feel like explaining. He'd already been through a conversation of why he shouldn't blame himself about twenty times since he'd left.

"Oh." Violet remained silent, trying to work up the courage to say what she'd wanted to say ever since the incident with Brainiac 1.0, not knowing how close to the mark she was about Brainy's thoughts.

"Brainy", she said presently. "Brainy…I – I just wanted you to know…I mean, I guess you're still – you know – blaming yourself over what happened…"

At this, Brainy stiffened. How could she possibly know what he had been thinking? Then common sense kicked in and he realized that most of the Legionnaires probably knew he had still not forgiven himself.

"…and I – well, I wanted to tell you…" Violet continued, "No one blames you, Brainy, no one. Maybe it's time you forgive yourself, too. I mean, you defeated Brainiac in the end, and that's what matters. And, I mean, maybe he came back, but that's not your fault. You delayed him, and because of that we had time to get better prepared, and now that he's back, we can beat him with your help. And I…I really hate seeing you so glum." Violet blushed scarlet.

Brainy stared at her for a moment. How did – oh, never mind. What did it matter how she knew he wasn't as peaceful as he pretended to be? The whole Legion probably knew.

"I guess I still have to practice hiding my feelings", he said ruefully.

"Uh, don't do that", objected Violet. "If you do, I won't know how you really are, and I won't know how to help you." She gasped as she realized what she'd said. "Um…" She began to shrink where she sat.

Brainy smiled. "Thank you, Violet."

"Um, no problem", squeaked Violet, who was now only about nine inches tall.

* * *

Phantom Girl sighed as she set the heavy, dusty volume down.

"Why such a big sigh?" asked a voice next to her. Phantom Girl yelped and leaped away as she looked for the voice and found no one.

"Sorry", said Invisible Kid sheepishly as he materialized. "I couldn't resist."

"Lyle!" exclaimed Phantom Girl. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sor-ree", Invisible Kid said again. Turning serious, he asked, "Still nothing?"

Phantom Girl shook her head. "Nope. I seriously doubt we're going to find anything in anything that's not a prophecy."

"Then let's concentrate on those", suggested Invisible Kid.

"I'd like to, but I'm afraid of what we'll find", Phantom Girl confessed. "After last time…"

"Yeah", agreed Invisible Kid. He looked at the yellow scrolls which they had piled up in a heap on a nearby table and chose one at random. "Shall we get it over with?"

"Yeah, let's."

* * *

XS appeared on the screen, speaking in her usual rapid-fire way.

"…might be something over at Neptune; can't really tell because it's rather far from here, think you can check it out?" she asked.

"It might take a while, since we're near Venus, but we'll secure the area over here and investigate", promised Bouncing Boy.

"Okay, good, 'cause we're still in the Andromeda system", said XS. "There hardly seems to be anything here, though, looks like all the fun is over at the Milky Way."

Bouncing Boy grinned. "Ah, well, you can't always get lucky", he joked.

"Someday, I will, and then I'll enjoy bragging about it to your face", XS returned. "Okay, I have to go now, it's my turn for scout patrol. XS out."

"Neptune?" inquired Triplicate Girl when the screen had blanked. "He moved all the way from the asteroid belt to Neptune?"

"That's what she said", shrugged Bouncing Boy. "Unfortunately, this means he had this planned all along. No one moves halfway across the system without a very good reason."

"Maybe he just wanted to get away."

"If that's true, he'll have vacated the spot by the time we reach there in favor of a more secure area. Unless I'm right and he's planned this from the beginning and he's got a base there." Bouncing Boy sighed.

"Relax, Bouncy, we'll get him eventually", said Triplicate Girl encouragingly. "A big green robot guy like him is bound to attract notice sometime. And even if he doesn't, you and I both know the Fatal Five and the LSV aren't immune to making mistakes."

* * *

"Matter-Eater Lad, would you stop eating all the food?" inquired an irate Timber Wolf.

"I'm hungry", replied Matter-Eater Lad simply.

"You're always hungry."

"Well, I'm hungrier than usual."

"You just ate an entire pie!"

"So what? When I'm nervous, I eat."

"Does that mean you're nervous right now?" asked Timber Wolf shrewdly.

"Duh."

"About what?"

"The whole Brainiac business."

"Is there anything you can chew on that you can't swallow so you can keep your teeth busy while we conserve the food?"

"Um…" Matter-Eater Lad thought for a while. "No, not really."

Timber Wolf sighed in exasperation.

"Relax, Timber Wolf", said Matter-Eater Lad, popping a cherry in his mouth. "I'm almost done. Besides, we can stop by the Mars rest stop to refill the larder."

Timber Wolf threw his hands up in surrender. "Fine. I give up. But you're paying."

"Of course."

* * *

"So, how're things in the 41st century now, Kell?" asked Lightning Lad as he, Kell-el, Night Girl, and Antenna Lad flew over eastern New Metropolis on one of their nighttime scouting expeditions.

"A whole lot better than I've ever known it to be", Kell-el replied.

"So, no bad guys?"

"None." Kell-el scanned the ground with his X-ray vision. "And none here either", he added. "I don't know why we keep doing this."

"It's our job", responded Lightning Lad. They came to the heart of town, where Night Girl and Antenna Lad separated from Lightning Lad and Kell-el to scout the western side of the city.

Once they were out of earshot, Kell-el wasted no time. "All right, Lightning Lad, why are you not telling anyone else about Saturn Girl?"

"They…don't need to know", replied Lightning Lad, hoping Kell-el would drop the subject. He didn't like thinking about it.

No such luck. Kell-el was nothing if not determined, and he was definitely not subtle.

"Why not?" he pressed. "Don't they have a right to know?"

"Look, everybody's focusing on finding Brainiac right now", said Lightning Lad heatedly. "They don't need the added distraction. And besides, Saturn Girl doesn't want to tell them, and since the secret's about her, I think she's got a right to keep it quiet, don't you?"

Kell-el kept silent and observed Lightning Lad.

"You love her, don't you?" he stated bluntly.

"I – what?" sputtered Lightning Lad, coming to a full stop.

"You love her", Kell-el repeated. "Don't try to deny it."

"Love…is a strong word", stammered Lightning Lad, trying to regain his composure.

"Obviously. But you clearly have feelings for her", Kell-el continued relentlessly.

"What are you – of course I have feelings for her!" exclaimed Lightning Lad. "She's one of my oldest friends."

"Lightning Lad, honestly, sometimes you can be extremely dimwitted", said Kell-el. "Does nothing penetrate that thick skull of yours?"

This coming from _Kell-el_?

"Look who's talking", said Lightning Lad. "You were so focused on going after Imperiex you didn't listen to the rest of us about going to Takron Galtose on the rescue mission."

"I was different then", defended Kell-el. "Besides, I came back, didn't I?"

"I – forget I said anything", grumbled Lightning Lad, as he resumed flying.

"So, does she know?" Kell-el asked as he flew beside the Winathian.

"Good grief, Kell, don't you know when to stop talking?" Lightning Lad asked irritably.

"De-ni-al", said Kell-el in a sing-song voice. He grinned. He was really enjoying tormenting Lightning Lad.

"I don't think so", Lightning Lad admitted finally. "I've always been rather careful about that."

"So you admit it?"

Lightning Lad glared at him. "Fine, okay, I confess, whatever! Yes, I do love her, and yes, I'm extremely worried about everything that's happening or that's going to happen to her. When did you become the love expert?"

"I knew it", Kell-el said smugly, ignoring Lightning Lad's question. He said nothing more for a while, then:

"Question is, does she return the feeling?"

"Kell!"

* * *

"Master, we are ready to continue working on the project", Tharok said respectfully.

"Excellent", said Brainiac. His lip curled in a cold smile. "Tell everyone to begin carrying out the orders I gave." He looked out at the distant blue planet of Neptune. "Two months hence, the Legion will be no more."

* * *

**_A/N: Yikes! I'm laughing my head off just reading this. So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We're now entering the home strait. With six more chapters to go, things are going to get spiced up starting next chapter. Thanks to _**_Lillywhitecherub **and **The Violet Rose **for reviewing.**_

**Disclaimer: Puh-lease.**


	17. Operation Legion

**Chapter 17**

The Legionnaires heard and saw hardly anything of Brainiac, the Fatal Five, or the LSV for a whole month, and if they did, it was only the last two, and only fleetingly. There were, however, plenty of sightings and skirmishes with Brainiac's robotic accomplices, who appeared everywhere, distracting the Legion and keeping them from continuing to investigate into Brainiac's whereabouts as thoroughly as they would like. Bouncing Boy's team never even got to make their way to Neptune, and nor did anyone else, as they were too busy fighting off throngs of robots. Cosmic Boy, of course, was extremely peeved.

"He's deliberately sidetracking us", he kept saying. "He's having his stupid robo-guards wreak havoc everywhere, so we have to put it right, and we can't concentrate on finding him!"

Cosmic Boy wasn't the only one who was annoyed. Dawnstar was finding it harder and harder to track anything related to Brainiac 1.0.

"He's shielding them", she said in frustration after trying and failing once more to pick up a trail of Brainiac 1.0, his robots, or any member of the Fatal Five or LSV. "It doesn't help that his robots are designed to project pretty much the same aura he has."

Lightning Lad and Kell-el were also getting tired of fighting robots. It didn't help that they knew that the robots were merely diversions while Brainiac carried out his plan elsewhere with the Fatal Five and LSV. But they didn't have any choice. Lightning Lad was also trying to deal with what he'd admitted to Kell-el – he did love Saturn Girl, and while he'd suspected it all along, he hadn't known for sure till Kell-el had prodded him for it. He tried to put the conversation out of his mind – Brainiac 1.0 was the bigger issue at the moment.

Brainy and Shrinking Violet were working hard to produce devices that would help, but at every turn, Brainiac 1.0 anticipated their every move, self-destructing robots that had been planted with tracers, creating so many false trails it was impossible for a tracking device to pick up the real one, and refusing to fall for any bait the Legionnaires could come up with.

Phantom Girl and Invisible Kid were also not making any headway in the prophecies. Anytime they came to a paragraph they thought might be important, they lost it, for some strange reason never being able to read it. Dream Girl explained that this may be because the higher power that had dictated the prophecies was preventing them from knowing more than was necessary.

"This 'higher power' must have a really obscure idea of what's necessary, then", Phantom Girl grumbled.

All in all, it was not a good month for the Legion. No matter how hard they tried, they simply could not make much progress in their quest for Brainiac 1.0.

"He's hiding himself too well", said Superman during one of their universal communications, in which every Legionnaire was present digitally.

Karate Kid, however, had a more philosophical approach. "The time is just not right. Eventually, everything will fall into place."

"I hope so, Kid", said Chameleon Boy. "I really hope so."

* * *

The silver metal glistened as he ran his robotic finger over it. Brainiac 1.0 smiled in satisfaction. "You have done well", he said to the Fatal Five and Legion of Supervillains, who were standing nearby.

"Master", said Mano, "If I may ask, what exactly will this do?"

"This, Mano, is what will enable me to implement the third and final phase of my plan", replied Brainiac. "This machine, which I call Doomsday, will occupy the team of Legionnaires that will come here. It will distract them and keep them busy here while we march on Legion HQ. By the time they overcome it, it will be too late."

"Sounds like a brilliant weapon." Wave chuckled evilly.

"Indeed." Brainiac looked at his subordinates. "Now this is what I wish you to do…"

* * *

Another month passed, during which Brainiac's robots suddenly and suspiciously ceased to appear, and the Fatal Five and LSV came back into action, replacing the robots as troublemakers-in-chief, and causing far more damage all over the galaxy than the former did.

"I don't like this", said Timber Wolf as he and the rest of XS' team had to rush to fend off yet another LSV attack on Saturn. "Something feels off."

"Well, we don't have a choice", XS told him. "We can't do anything but fight them."

However, while the rest of the Legion concentrated on battling the Fatal Five and the LSV, Bouncing Boy and his group were making their way toward Neptune with Dawnstar and Brainy, under Cosmic Boy's orders.

"We'll handle the Fatal Five and the LSV", Cosmic Boy told them. "You have to find out what's going on over there." Cosmic Boy also pulled Phantom Girl and Invisible Kid off studying prophecies and added them to his team.

Between attacks, the Legionnaires did get to rest a bit, though it wasn't much. During one of these rare breaks, Lightning Lad and the rest of the Legionnaires at Headquarters held a very serious discussion.

"There's obviously something much bigger going on here", reasoned Stone Boy. "These attacks by the Fatal Five and the LSV aren't random."

"Yes, but what else can we do except fight them off whenever they appear?" asked Colossal Boy wearily. "We can't anticipate what Brainiac's going to do, but he can anticipate us."

"We're very vulnerable", said Dream Girl. "But there seems to be no fixed pattern to these attacks, so we can't predict when or where the next one's going to occur. I'm not even having any dreams."

"Whatever the case, we can't do anything much until Bouncing Boy reaches Neptune", said Infectious Lass. "Let's all hope he reaches there soon."

"He should get there the day after tomorrow", Porcupine Pete said. "I've been keeping track, and if he's been going at the same speed since he left, he should reach Neptune around that time."

Lightning Lad looked sideways at Porcupine Pete. Over the months that they had worked together, he had gained a new respect for the Legion of Substitute Heroes. They all seemed to have grown up and become more responsible. Of course, they were also quite silly sometimes. Double-Header's frequent dialogues between his two heads were so absurd they would make anyone wonder how he had managed to bring down Validus by himself just two days earlier.

Then he shifted his gaze to Saturn Girl, sitting across the room from him. She had spoken increasingly little of late, contemplating all the matters at hand in silence. Lightning Lad felt a pang as he saw her looking solemn and forlorn. Beneath that, his friend had huge amounts of strength, courage, and determination, and it showed on her face. He wished there was something he could do, but there was nothing. Once again he found himself hoping desperately that she would not die in the major battle with Brainiac 1.0, a prospect that seemed to be looming ever more quickly.

Then Saturn Girl spoke.

"All we can do is wait", she said. "But it won't be long now." She looked out the window. "Soon, this will all be over, and none of us can tell what will await us once it is."

* * *

Triplicate Girl stared out the cruiser at the large blue planet. Relief and anxious anticipation tensed in her slim body in equal amounts. "Bouncing Boy!" she called. "We're here!"

The plump, bouncing teen came over to her. "Brainy! Dawnstar!" he called. "Which way?"

"Left", came the distant reply from somewhere to the right of the bridge.

Bouncing Boy piloted the cruiser stealthily and carefully toward the side of Neptune. To his surprise, as well as everyone else's, the large metal construction hangar was right in plain sight, without any cloaking or shielding devices Brainy could discern.

"I don't like this", Element Lad muttered under his breath.

"Be careful, everyone", Bouncing Boy warned. "We don't know what might hap-aaahh!"

His cry was mingled with those of the other Legionnaires as the cruiser rocked violently to the side.

"Brainy!" yelled Star Boy. "What's happening?"

Brainy, who was holding tightly onto the metal counter below the main computer in an attempt to steady himself, shouted back, "I believe whatever is in the construction hangar is a type of machine which was programmed to emit gravitational waves in positive and negative poles once anything of a certain molecular structure entered its range."

"English, Brainy!" exclaimed Tyroc, scrabbling at the floor as the cruiser tilted sharply toward its other side, nearly achieving a full 90 degree angle.

"There is a machine in there that is activating gravity fields in different directions with increasing force!" Brainy bellowed.

"'With increasing force…?" repeated Ultra Boy. "Brainy, what do you mean by that?"

The ship bucked again, sending all the Legionnaires tumbling across the wall.

"It means", said Brainy, "that eventually the machine will generate enough gravity to create a black hole that will pull us all in."

"What!" gasped Dawnstar and all three of Triplicate Girl's bodies, who had split to better steady themselves.

"Brainy, can you override it?" Bouncing Boy asked frantically.

"I can try." Brainy slowly and laboriously made his way to the computer. It took several attempts, as he kept sliding backward whenever the cruiser tipped and dipped with, as Brainy had predicted, ever increasing forcefulness.

Finally, though, he managed to grab on to the keyboard. Typing in several codes, nothing happened. Thinking quickly, Brainy tried to remember the password to the stealth and cloaking devices that had shielded the first construction hangar, back in the asteroid belt – no easy feat, considering that the cruiser kept rocking to and fro, bumping his head and body against the ceiling. He knew it was a long shot, but they had no other choice. Judging by the way the gravity kept increasing every time, they had only seconds before a black hole formed. Holding his breath, Brainy punched in the password and waited.

The effect was almost instantaneous. The ship stopped shaking from side to side and became still, floating peacefully in space once more.

The Legionnaires inside gasped and panted, rubbing their bruised anatomies. For a moment, they couldn't believe they had finally stopped; then they cheered.

"Good job, Brainy", Element Lad said in relief.

Suddenly the computer flashed, revealing an agitated Lightning Lad.

"All Legionnaires, return to Earth immediately! Brainiac 1.0 is attacking! Repeat, Brainiac 1.0 has arrived!"

The screen blanked, leaving eight tense and fearful Legionnaires.

"It was a trap", said Bouncing Boy, summing up the horrifying conclusion they had all reached.

* * *

**_A/N: Yes sir, we are now approaching the Big Fight! Brainiac 1.0 is just putting the finishing touches on his grand master plan. Thanks for reviewing to _**_Lillywhitecherub, TheEclipse, **and **Devilbunny, **as well as **The Violet Rose, **who, again, was prevented by her computer from reviewing properly. And thanks for all the congratulations on my new sister from my faithful readers.  
**_

**Disclaimer: Absolutely not.**


	18. Brainiac's Arrival

**Chapter 18**

Cosmic Boy and his team were in the next solar system, fighting off Validus, Hunter, and about a hundred specialized battle bots, when the call came.

"All Legionnaires, return to Earth immediately! Brainiac 1.0 is attacking! Repeat, Brainiac 1.0 has arrived!"

"That's our cue", Hunter said to Validus, who nodded. "See ya, Legionnaires", he added. "We've got somewhere to be." Then he and Validus disappeared, teleporting away and leaving the seventy-eight remaining robots to battle Cosmic Boy, Superman, Phantom Girl, Sun Boy, Invisible Kid, Shrinking Violet, Nemesis Kid, Chemical King, and Wildfire.

Normally, Cosmic Boy could have handled all the robots with a few fields of magnetic manipulation, but, as he had discovered early in the fight, Brainiac had treated them so that they were immune to his powers, and so he had to rely on his combat skills.

Chemical King initiated a chemical reaction that disintegrated ten robots, and Wildfire eliminated several more with an intense blast of energy. By then, the other robots had retaliated with the vast number of weapons they had in their arsenal.

Nemesis Kid avoided a laser beam and kicked the robot that had fired it, banging its head together with that of another bot and neutralizing both. Superman wiped out an entire group of robots who had converged on him, laser-ing most of them, punching a few, and freezing a couple more. Around the Legionnaires, every so often, a robot would suddenly stop dead and shut down – courtesy of a microscopic-sized Shrinking Violet messing with the circuits.

Invisible Kid, however, was not so lucky. Though he turned invisible, three of the robots employed their heat vision and whacked him on the head as one, effectively knocking him out. Cosmic Boy caught him and dispatched his attackers with a swift, hard kick.

With twenty-two robots remaining, the tide was definitely turning in the Legionnaires' favor. Phantom Girl whacked the heads off four of them and Sun Boy torched their exposed circuits for good measure. Then a robot fired at Chemical King as he was setting off another reaction. Struck in the small of his back, Chemical King collapsed while the robot strode forward to attack Wildfire. Before it could get so much as a punch in, however, Cosmic Boy kicked it away, toward the laser beam Superman was emitting from his eyes to destroy more robots.

Within minutes, there were no robots left – at least none that were capable of doing anything but lying on the ground. The Legionnaires had quickly and efficiently overpowered them, despite being widely outnumbered, out of a need to get back to Earth as fast as possible. They climbed back into their cruiser, Cosmic Boy and Sun Boy supporting Invisible Kid and Chemical King.

"We'll never make it back in time", predicted Nemesis Kid.

"Oh, yes we will", Shrinking Violet said determinedly, marching toward the circuitry panel. Opening it to reveal the mass of wires inside, she proceeded to change them about, switching certain cables, linking several others, and completely unplugging a few. Closing the panel, she revved up the engine of the cruiser, which made a loud, rattling sound as it came online.

Alarmed, Cosmic Boy asked, "Violet, what did you do?"

Accelerating the cruiser into a dizzyingly high speed, Violet replied over the noise, "I switched all the energy from the shields, weapon, and stealth systems to the main power converter. Right now all the power is fueling the engine and speed of the cruiser. It might not be enough to get us back in time, but it could."

"That would explain why it's so dark, then?" said Sun Boy, holding up a ball of fire in his hand so that they wouldn't be in pitch blackness.

"Violet, you're a genius!" Superman said fervently.

* * *

"Come on!" XS yelled as she darted around Tharok at super-speed. "Catch me if you can!"

Growling, Tharok fired another blast at where he estimated XS to be, but she was moving too fast for him to think, and the shot missed.

"You bratty little –" Tharok barked, but he was cut off by the activation of all the Legionnaire's rings.

"All Legionnaires, return to Earth immediately! Brainiac 1.0 is attacking! Repeat, Brainiac 1.0 has arrived!" Lightning Lad's holographic image exclaimed before disappearing.

XS stopped short, as did the other members of her team, halfway through battling Tharok, Esper, and their one hundred battle bots.

"Oopsie", said Esper maliciously. "Guess you've got better things to do. That is, if you make it back on time." With a wicked laugh, she and Tharok vanished, but the robots did not, and these attacked the Legionnaires.

"Yikes!" cried Chameleon Boy, jumping out of the way as a robot came charging straight at him. Turning into a huge creature that remotely resembled a T-rex, he swiped at the robot with his tail, causing it to fly backward and crash into several others. Beside him, Karate Kid leaped into the air and kicked down six robots in quick succession, chopping the heads off another two as he came down.

Timber Wolf slashed viciously at any robot he could reach, effectively rendering them harmless with a few fierce strikes of his sharp claws. Blok proceeded in a more methodical manner, smashing his whole, rocky bulk into the robots that happened to get in his way as he ran, then doubling back in several other directions and repeating the same process. Matter-Eater Lad was pretty much running wild, biting huge chunks of metal off the robots' shoulders, arms, legs, and heads. XS dashed all around, slamming into robots before they even knew what was happening.

The robots did get some shots in, of course. Brainiac 1.0 had given them an enormous range of weapons, and they made good use of them. One injured Karate Kid, and another got a lucky shot in at XS' shoulder. Timber Wolf emerged from his most recent conflict rather singed, and Chameleon Boy got hit by a stray grenade.

Eventually, however, all hundred of the bots lay strewn across the ground of Mars, where XS' team was, and the Legionnaires hurried into their cruiser, which, once they launched it, they piloted at full speed toward Earth.

* * *

"Brainy!" yelled Bouncing Boy. "Are you done?"

"Yes", replied Brainy, emerging from the lab with Element Lad, a medium-sized cylindrical metal object in one hand, a basic teleporter in the other. He looked at Bouncing Boy, who nodded once, and quickly and deftly affixed the teleporter to the apparatus.

"What exactly does that do?" asked Ultra Boy apprehensively.

"This has been built, with Element Lad's help, to collect certain molecules and atoms from the air and store them as energy, which will hopefully be enough to power this teleporter to transport us through an alternate dimension to New Metropolis", replied Brainy.

"I'm not even going to ask for a simplified explanation", muttered Star Boy.

"What, exactly, are we doing discussing the properties of this device?" asked Dawnstar pointedly. "Who cares how and why it does what it does as long as it gets us back to Earth like it's supposed to, like right now?"

"Dawnstar's right", said Triplicate Girl's Orange Body, helping Purple Body support White Body, who was still queasy from the jarring, jolting bucking of the cruiser just a few minutes before. "We should go now."

"Just give me a minute", said Brainy as he fumbled with the combined technology. "Ready?" he asked the assembled Legionnaires. They murmured disjointedly, but their heads bobbed tersely downward. Brainy activated the teleportation device, and the planet Neptune and deep space suddenly vanished, to be replaced by New Metropolis, as the cruiser and everyone in it was transported to Earth by the combined teleporter and power-supplier.

* * *

Lightning Lad ran out to join his teammates after sending a swift, urgent message to all the Legionnaires, only to behold a fearsome scene.

Brainiac 1.0, now in his full Brainiac 6 technology and twice the height of Legion HQ, was advancing on them. Marching beside him were Tyr, Esper, Hunter, Wave, Ron-Karr, Emerald Empress, Persuader, Tharok, Mano, and Validus, and behind him followed an army of about a thousand battle robots in full armor and equipped with deadly weapons.

In front of the massive crowd of villains, Kell-el, Dream Girl, Colossal Boy, Porcupine Pete, Stone Boy, Night Girl, Color Kid, Infectious Lass, Fire Lad, Chlorophyll Kid, Double-Header, Antenna Lad, and Polar Boy, led by Saturn Girl, stood facing Brainiac 1.0.

"Holy –" Lightning Lad exclaimed in dread.

"Surrender now and your lives may be spared", Brainiac's booming mechanical voice proclaimed. "Disband the Legion and interfere no more with the world that I and my accomplices shall create. Refuse, and I will show you no mercy, and you shall be crushed under my heel like the insignificant insects you are."

"Never!" cried Saturn Girl defiantly, her eyes flashing a bright, intense pink. The additional voices of the other Legionnaires and the Substitutes echoed her sentiment. Lightning Lad watched with trepidation. He admired Saturn Girl's courage, and he himself added his refusal to the chorus of voices, but he feared for every Legionnaire, Substitute or not, who was there today, and for all the others who were not here – yet.

Brainiac 1.0 glared down upon them with a cold, hard, merciless look.

"Then you have sealed your doom. Now, my assistants, _ATTACK!_"

* * *

**_A/N: Hehehe. Another evil cliffie. Well, tomorrow will bring another chapter with it, so don't worry. Thanks to _**_Devilbunny, TheEclipse, Mirror's Mirage, **and **Lillywhitecherub **for reviewing, and also **The Violet Rose, **who had yet another unfortunate episode with her computer.I appreciate all your feedback! =)**_

**Disclaimer: Now, seriously, why on earth would I be posting on a fanfiction site if I could use this elsewhere?  
**


	19. War!

**Chapter 19**

Kell-el smashed into several robots and trapped three others in his green Kryptonite blasts before confronting Wave and Emerald Empress head on. He dodged an energy blast fired by the Eye of Ekron and jumped into the air and punched Emerald Empress. She doubled over, winded, as Wave extended her tentacles of hair toward Kell-el, grabbing and groping at all parts of his body.

"You know", said Kell-el, tensing his muscles in preparation, "you really" – he snapped a lock of hair – "should do" – several other tresses were forced to loosen – "your homework" – now there was only the thickest tuft of hair left, curled around his waist – "on a Superman!"

Wave howled in rage as the last of her hair tore (being hair, she felt no pain), releasing her quarry. However, Wave being Wave, she simply re-grew her prehensile hair, snatched a vehicle from the road, and hurled it at Kell-el. Kell-el ducked, causing the vehicle to smash onto the pavement behind him, and lunged at Wave. However, he had forgotten about Emerald Empress, who now snuck up behind him and had the Eye of Ekron blast him.

Diagonally opposite Kell-el, Chlorophyll Kid was taking out robots by the dozen with his giant beanstalk plant, before Brainiac stopped him personally as he was passing, firing an energy beam that rendered him unconscious. Infectious Lass was already down, knocked out by Hunter early in the battle after his axe sliced her arm, but otherwise appeared unharmed – for the moment.

Stone Boy and Fire Lad were plowing through the robotic soldiers, trying to buy Antenna Lad - who was surfing through all the stations he could find in an attempt to unleash a destructive frequency – some time, while Night Girl stayed in the shadows, which offered her some, if not full, use of her powers.

Colossal Boy had grown to his full height (almost as tall as Brainiac) and was wrestling with Validus, successfully avoiding the latter's mental lightning attacks until Mano swiped at him with his lethal hand, throwing him off-balance and allowing Validus to get a shot at him.

Not far away, Color Kid was changing the hue of Tharok's skin, hoping futilely that the odd combinations would confuse or distract the cyborg, but he only succeeded in angering the villains to the extent that he was quickly punched out.

"Color Kid!" exclaimed Porcupine Pete as he fired quills wherever he could without injuring his teammates. A few managed to poke into the flesh-and-blood villains' bodies or pierce through the unprotected metal armor of a stray robot, but most were simply deflected away.

Polar Boy wasn't having much success either. The most he was able to do was freeze a few robots and crash them to bits before Tyr engaged him in one-on-one combat. Polar Boy jumped and skipped, avoiding shots from Tyr's gun-arm, but he was so focused on that he didn't notice Persuader sneaking up behind him until his large fist collided with his head.

Double-Header was fighting with Ron-Karr, making the most of his two heads. He was able to see any villains or robots coming at him from behind with one head, and keep his eyes trained on Ron-Karr with the other head. He managed to subdue the shape-shifting Neptunian before moving on to a group of robots.

Dream Girl was now battling Hunter, evading his axe as she jumped lightly around him, throwing kicks and punches whenever and wherever she could. She managed to get his axe stuck in the ground long enough to whack the daylights out of him while he tried to extract his weapon, before being pinned to the ground by a large robot.

Lightning Lad was personally combating Esper, firing stray lightning bolts at many a passing robot when the opportunity presented itself. Between punches, kicks, avoidance of Esper's telepathic attacks, and a high voltage of electricity, he kept scanning the large, disorganized multitude of people in the hopes of spotting Saturn Girl, who seemed to have disappeared after taking out around twenty-five robots with a couple of force fields early in the battle.

And Brainiac 1.0 was just standing, watching the fray with a satisfied smirk on his face, solidly confident of the success of his scheme. For the most part, he refrained from the battle, stepping in only when it looked like the Legionnaires might be gaining the upper hand.

After a while, it became clear that the Legionnaires could not hold out much longer. Brainiac was just congratulating himself on a job well done when there was a flash of bright light that temporarily chased all the shadows away, a cracking, thundering sound, and a smell of singed metal and wood. Everyone, Legionnaire and villain alike, looked up to behold the welcome sight of a Legion cruiser, which descended rapidly on Brainiac.

Before he could counter it, so stunned was he by the sudden arrival, the ship conked Brainiac on his head, causing some not very minor damage to his circuits. Cursing, he shook the spacecraft off, leaving it to fall hundreds of feet to the ground, and retreated some way to repair the damage.

The cruiser crashed into the pavement with a sickening crunch, but a hatch opened in an undamaged portion of it not too long after, and Bouncing Boy, Triplicate Girl, Brainiac 5, Dawnstar, Tyroc, Ultra Boy, Element Lad, and Star Boy climbed out, unharmed. The eight of them quickly joined the battle, amid cheers from the rest of the home team.

Despite the additional reinforcements, the Legionnaires could not gain any ground. The villains and robots still numbered over eight hundred, and they were still an overwhelming force, and they kept pushing the Legion back.

"What are we going to do?" Kell-el, now recovered from Emerald Empress' attack, had to shout to be heard over all the noise.

"I don't know!" bellowed Lightning Lad. "Just hold them back the best you can, and pray for a miracle!"

Just then Saturn Girl crashed to the ground from a direction that seemed to suggest she had been near Brainiac.

Exclaiming in shock, Lightning Lad eliminated the three robots directly in front of him and helped Saturn Girl up, asking anxiously, "Are you all right? Where have you been?"

Saturn Girl shook her head to clear her thoughts and started fighting the throng of opponents facing them with her telepathy. "I'm fine", she said between attacks. "I tried creeping up to Brainiac, but he discovered me and tossed me back. My force field managed to cushion the impact."

"You went after Brainiac alone?" exclaimed Lightning Lad, firing a particularly powerful bolt at Esper, who was attempting to approach Saturn Girl.

"He was watching the battle!" Saturn Girl yelled back. "I saw an opportunity, and I took it, but it didn't work!"

The fight, which could now appropriately be called a war, was quickly turning ugly. Three villains (Hunter, Esper, and Ron-Karr) and almost three hundred robots were permanently out of action, but so were several Legionnaires, including Dream Girl, Element Lad, Chlorophyll Kid, Infectious Lass, and Antenna Lad. A few others were also temporarily down for the count, leaving only Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy, Kell-el, Dawnstar, Star Boy, Tyroc, Ultra Boy, Porcupine Pete, Double-Header, Fire Lad, Night Girl, and Stone Boy to battle Tyr, Wave, Emerald Empress, Tharok, Validus, Mano, Persuader, seven hundred robots, and Brainiac 1.0.

The Legionnaires and villains were tiring, but the robots were not, and these kept attacking the former without mercy. Tyroc destroyed about a hundred robots with the shrill frequency Antenna Lad had been searching for before he'd been knocked unconscious, and he even managed to fry a few more circuits in Brainiac's mechanical suit, delaying the evil Coluan even more. However, Bouncing Boy and Dawnstar were quickly taken down by sheer numbers, and Lightning Lad was out of action for a few minutes after Tharok got him with a cannon blast.

More reinforcements arrived in the form of another Legion cruiser, this one bearing XS, Timber Wolf, Chameleon Boy, Karate Kid, Blok, and Matter-Eater Lad. Unfortunately, Chameleon Boy and Karate Kid had been injured enough in their previous battle that they were unable to help. XS flatly ignored Timber Wolf's advice to stay in the cruiser, and, with a bandage on her wounded shoulder, came out with him, Blok, and Matter-Eater Lad.

Several more robots were obliterated, and Mano and Persuader were eliminated from the battle. By now the tide was swiftly turning even more decisively in Brainiac's favor. Even when Cosmic Boy, Superman, Phantom Girl, Sun Boy, Invisible Kid, Shrinking Violet, Nemesis Kid, and Wildfire (Chemical King was not fit to fight) arrived to help, the vast multitude of the remaining robots, despite suffering substantial hits and losses themselves, kept weakening the ranks of the Legionnaires. Eventually it got to the point where there were 250 robots and three villains (Tyr, Validus, and Emerald Empress) remaining (not counting Brainiac 1.0) and only twelve Legionnaires (Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Superman, Blok, Brainiac 5, Shrinking Violet, Invisible Kid, Kell-el, Sun Boy, and Nemesis Kid) and two Subs (Porcupine Pete and Double-Header) still standing.

Then Brainiac 1.0 did a surprising thing – he halted the battle.

"That is enough", he said in his chilling, thundering robotic voice, causing everyone to stop fighting. "This war is pointless, and I will not tolerate it any longer. I could have digitized all of you at the very beginning, but I did not, because I wished to see truly the full extent of your folly, and how far you would go. No more. You are obviously outnumbered, Legion, and you are tiring ever more quickly. Admit defeat and stop trying to interfere with my plans, and I will let you live. Continue to fight, and you will all be eliminated in the blink of an eye. Choose now."

Compete and utter silence followed his words. The Legionnaires were faced with an impossible choice: continue fighting, and die – for they knew they would stand no chance once battle recommenced – or give up, and allow Brainiac to take over the universe. Either path would result in the same thing. However, they were forgetting the third and key option.

Saturn Girl turned grave, determined eyes to Lightning Lad, who alone was beside her where she stood, in front of Legion HQ (the other Legionnaires were scattered all over the place).

"You know what has to happen", she said quietly. Lightning Lad remained silent, unwilling to say anything.

Saturn Girl glanced upward, at Brainiac 1.0's huge, menacing figure, then back at Lightning Lad.

"I have to fight him alone."

* * *

**_A/N: Yes, the big fight! Next chapter will come the mano-o-mano battle between Saturn Girl and Brainiac 1.0. I can promise you it's going to be surprising - I think. Thanks to _**_Devilbunny, Dangerzone, **and **TheEclipse **for reviewing. Also to **The Violet Rose, **whose review I received in another private message. Hey, I'm loyal to my reviewers.  
**_

**Disclaimer: Do I look like I own this? Oh, wait, you can't see me...**


	20. Battle of Two

**Chapter 20**

The very sky darkened, and heavy, looming clouds blocked out the sun, covering the blue above the two Legionnaires below.

Lightning Lad looked down, trying to quell the rising apprehension and cold fear in his stomach.

"I'm sorry, Garth", Saturn Girl said softly, edging closer to him. Before either of them knew it, their lips had met in the sweet sensation of a first kiss, which was unfortunately made too much more serious by the gravity of the situation that circumstances had forced them into.

She ended it after several seconds, gave him one last, deep look, and flew up into the suddenly frigid air. The other Legionnaires on the ground cried out in shock and consternation as they saw her and finally remembered her role in all this. The few who knew what that destiny had in store for her watched anxiously as she approached Brainiac.

"Brainiac 1.0, I challenge you to single combat to determine the course of this war", Saturn Girl called out loudly, gathering her courage and trying to keep her voice from trembling. It was not, after all, easy to march purposefully and deliberately into a battle against one of the most feared and powerful villains of all time, knowing she might not survive it. She had put on a calm face for the sake of the Legion – things were difficult enough without adding such a heavy burden – but she had never been completely at ease since the prophecies had named her as the Protector of the Universe. And now that she was face to face with Brainiac 1.0, it took all her willpower and determination to live up to her momentous destiny.

Brainiac turned baleful, disdainful eyes on the Titanian and snorted derisively. "Single combat?" he repeated in a scathing voice. "What can you do against me?"

Though Saturn Girl was inclined to believe him, she knew there was still a chance, however slim, that all would not end well for him today. "Then you'll have nothing to lose by fighting me, will you?" she said.

Brainiac scrutinized her coldly and calculatively and saw no threat. "Very well", he agreed. "We battle, then, though know that it is your death you have guaranteed. Nothing can stop me from achieving my success at last, least of all you." With that, he assumed a battle stance, a multitude of weapons appearing from beneath his armor.

Saturn Girl readied herself too, pulling together her reserves of strength and shielding her mind.

Brainiac made the first move, firing a particularly large gun in his left arm, shooting a blaze of fire toward Saturn Girl. She dodged it and ducked out of sight, reappearing a minute later behind Brainiac's neck. She kicked it hard, denting the metal, and stabbed his mechanical mind with a powerful telepathic attack. Enraged, Brainiac walled his mind off immediately, striking Saturn Girl with a backhand swat, knocking her away.

Recovering quickly, Saturn Girl propelled herself upward again, avoiding the bullets coming her way, and attempted to get an attack in. But this time, Brainiac was ready for her, and he anticipated her every move, blocking her way and throwing her off-balance.

There followed an intense, difficult battle. Saturn Girl couldn't find any opening to exploit, except for the occasional force field that distracted Brainiac long enough for her to attack his mind again as she searched for something that would shut him down. However, these occurrences never lasted long, and became increasingly infrequent as the battle progressed, and as it did, Saturn Girl's chances diminished. She continually had to dodge constant attacks by Brainiac, and was quickly tiring, but Brainiac appeared to be under no strain whatsoever.

Below them, every Legionnaire and villain alike watched the battle, the Legionnaires in anxiety, the villains in enjoyment. The robots simply stood still, having received an order from Brainiac to cease fighting. Above, the sky was now a dark, overcast grey and lightning streaked across it and ominous thunder roared, but it did not rain.

Saturn Girl ducked under another blast, but this time Brainiac got her arm with a thin laser beam below the energy blast. Crying out in pain, Saturn Girl clutched her arm, momentarily distracted. That was all Brainiac needed. To the dismay and alarm of all the Legionnaires, Brainiac proceeded to fire all sorts of weapons which Saturn Girl, injured and tired, had trouble avoiding. Within minutes, she had been forced back to the ground, and she didn't get up.

Brainiac bent over her. "Do you surrender?" he asked calmly.

Battered and hurt not a little, Saturn Girl felt a sudden, new surge of energy well up inside her, as well as renewed strength and determination. She knew what she had to do, and she knew that no matter what the cost, it had to be done.

Rising slowly into the air, seeming to glow with a bright, strong pink light, she declared, just loud enough for all to hear, "Never." Then, when she was directly in front of Brainiac's metallic chest, she threw her head back and her arms out and concentrated. Slowly pulling her arms toward her body, her eyes blazing pink, a force field appeared. It was small at first, but it gradually grew larger and larger.

As the watching Legionnaires looked on, breathless with fear and apprehension, the force field shimmered and glittered in the dim light, now as big as Brainiac. Then, without any warning, it suddenly advanced powerfully on the evil Coluan, pushing him backward with such force it actually shattered first his metal armor, and then his mechanical body and mind. Brainiac 1.0 disintegrated, never to be seen or heard from again, never to threaten anyone anymore. But even as he dissolved into bits, Saturn Girl stopped glowing, sagged, and plummeted toward the earth with frightening speed.

Exclaiming in alarm, Superman rushed toward Saturn Girl's falling body as fast as his super-speed allowed him to (which was _very _fast) and caught her before she hit the ground.

The other Legionnaires, with the exception of Lightning Lad, looked toward the remaining villains and robots. The robots were now standing perfectly still, and for a minute, they remained that way; then they all collapsed on the ground in a heap.

"They've shut down", Brainiac 5 announced, prodding one with his foot.

Tyr, Validus, and Emerald Empress all snarled and attacked anyway, which was a mistake, because it was thirteen against three. Within minutes, the villains had been overcome and they and their teammates were tossed into the detention cells in Legion HQ until further notice.

They found Superman in the sick bay with Saturn Girl; apparently he had run back there while his teammates had been taking care of the villains.

"Is she okay?" Lightning Lad asked anxiously as the others flocked around Saturn Girl's bed.

Superman shook his head. "No, she's not. She's in a coma."

"You mean a healing trance", Cosmic Boy corrected, feeling relieved. Saturn Girl always woke up from her healing trances. If she was in one, she couldn't have been hurt all that bad.

"No, I _mean _a coma", said Superman. "A real, true coma."

* * *

_**A/N: We're nearing the end of this story now. Two more chapters to go, and then it'll be time to mark it complete. However, there are still two more days to go, so cheer up! Thanks to **The Violet Rose, TheEclipse, Devilbunny, DangerZone, Mirror's Mirage, **and **Lillywhitecherub **for reviewing!**_

**Disclaimer: Naw...me? Seriously? Own this? No way on earth.  
**


	21. Waiting

**Chapter 21**

"How exactly can she be in a – ahem – coma?" inquired Cosmic Boy, struggling to keep his voice calm as Kell-el and the others, with the exception of Superman, Brainy, and Lightning Lad, went to help the other injured Legionnaires and sort things out.

"Well, I'd have to examine her before I can say for sure", Brainy said. "But I can tell you, after that battle with Brainiac 1.0, her condition is likely to be extremely fragile."

Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, and Superman waited anxiously outside sick bay while Brainy completed his medical examination of Saturn Girl. At length, Cosmic Boy spoke.

"I thought this was only supposed to happen if she didn't beat Brainiac."

Lightning Lad raised his head from his hands and sighed heavily. "So did I, Cos."

Invisible Kid, passing by, overheard him.

"Are you talking about the prophecy?" he asked.

"Yeah", said Cosmic Boy. "I thought this was only supposed to happen to Saturn Girl if Brainiac won."

"Apparently not", said Dream Girl, as she came in too with a small bandage on her forehead.

"How are you doing?" asked Lightning Lad.

"I'm fine", said Dream Girl. "I got lucky. The robot that knocked me out didn't bother to do anymore damage. The more important issue is Saturn Girl."

"You mean the others are all right?" Cosmic Boy inquired.

"I just checked with Brainy, and he said that they should all be fine", Dream Girl affirmed. Some of them are pretty banged up, but they'll live. Saturn Girl, on the other hand…"

"Wait, hold it, what are you guys talking about?" interrupted Superman, who had been listening to the whole conversation in confusion. "What was only supposed to happen if Brainiac won? What prophecy are we referring to?"

The other four glanced at each other. Invisible Kid sighed. "I guess there's no point hiding it anymore", he said. "Phantom Girl and I came across an additional passage in the prophecies about Saturn Girl."

"And?" Superman prompted when he hesitated.

"And it said that Saturn Girl might not survive the battle."

"What!" exclaimed Superman, looking from Invisible Kid to the others. "And you're only telling us about this now?"

"Actually, we're only telling _you_ about this now", corrected Dream Girl. "We already knew about it."

"Who else knows?" Superman asked suspiciously.

"Just us, Phantom Girl, Colossal Boy, and Kell-el", replied Cosmic Boy.

"_Kell-el _knows about this?" said Superman in disbelief.

"Well, he was in Legion HQ when we called", said Invisible Kid.

"Why keep it such a secret?" queried Superman.

"It was Saturn Girl's decision", Lightning Lad said. "She didn't want to distract anybody else with the knowledge. It would all have come out eventually, anyway."

"Ahem", said a voice. They all turned to see Brainy standing by the doorway.

"Did you hear all that?" asked Lightning Lad.

"Most of it." Brainy walked over to them. "I've finally completed evaluating Saturn Girl as well as the other Legionnaires. Most will recover within a week, though a few who had more serious injuries will take longer to recuperate. However, they will all heal perfectly."

"And Saturn Girl?" asked Cosmic Boy, standing up.

Brainy looked away and took a deep breath. "She has a lasered arm, a twisted ankle, two fractured ribs, some internal bleeding, a concussion, and to top it all off, her energy and vitals levels are extremely low and she's not breathing on her own. I had to hook her up to a ventilator. And Superman was right about the coma. There's hardly any brain activity – it's at levels that would be low even for someone with an ordinary mental capacity, and for a telepath…"

"It's even worse", Dream Girl supplied.

Cosmic Boy descended back on his chair while Lightning Lad asked hoarsely, "What are her chances?"

Brainy hesitated. "In a case such as this, when a prophecy is involved, I can't exactly say –"

"Medically, Brainy, medically!" cried Lightning Lad. "Forget the prophecy and tell me what her chances are medically."

Brainy looked down and said quietly, "Almost zero percent."

* * *

Over the days that followed, Lightning Lad was almost constantly in the room Brainy had partitioned off in the sick bay for Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy wasn't far behind. The other Legionnaires were also in and out of that partition, and Brainy, Dream Girl, and Shrinking Violet took it in turns to monitor Saturn Girl. The Fatal Five and Legion of Supervillains had been sent back to Takron Galtose, and there were no other problems. At least, none that required the Legion – the Subs, who had since returned to their Headquarters, all healthy and well (none had suffered lasting injuries), had volunteered to take care of anything they could that might come up. So far, they were doing a pretty good job.

Despite having no major problems to resolve, the entire Legion was tense and anxious. Two weeks since the battle with Brainiac 1.0, there was still no change in Saturn Girl's condition. Her body healed in due course, ridding itself of all injuries except the fractured ribs, but there was still no sign of any brain activity, and her vital levels showed no signs of rising. She was also still not breathing on her own.

"What exactly did the passage say?" inquired Timber Wolf one day – the rest of the Legion had since learned of the prophecy.

Phantom Girl, who was in Saturn Girl's partition with him, sighed and said, "You really want to know?" When he nodded, she recited, "'…but the task shall be accomplished at the risk of the death of the Protector, for the effort shall be great, and leave her empty and drained of energy. When this comes to pass, only the Fates of the Universe will decide whether the Protector shall live or die.'"

"The 'Fates of the Universe'?" repeated Timber Wolf.

"That's what it said." Phantom Girl shrugged. "Oh, Brin", she said suddenly, throwing herself into his arms. "What if she doesn't make it? What if we've won the greatest battle we've ever faced at the cost of Saturn Girl's life? What'll we do then, Brin?"

Timber Wolf, not a little stunned by the fact that Phantom Girl had suddenly pressed herself against him and was using his real name, didn't know what to say. He couldn't lie. He'd heard Brainy's report, and he had the same worries himself.

Apparently Phantom Girl picked up on it, because she sniffed and drew back. Timber Wolf was surprised to see actual tears in her eyes.

"Oh, just forget it", she said. "You probably feel the same way I do, so you wouldn't have any idea how to answer a question I can't. I'm sorry." She looked away.

Timber Wolf tentatively touched her hand. "Don't be. We all need answers to those questions." He paused, wondering what else he could say. "If it's any consolation, Saturn Girl would be glad she managed to keep the universe safe."

Phantom Girl sniffed again and glanced at Saturn Girl's pale, still form. "Yeah."

Other Legionnaires were similarly affected. Not a day went by without the thought of losing Saturn Girl crossing their minds at least once, and it became increasingly obvious as time passed. Everyone was edgy and worried, and a few of the more emotional ones (like Triplicate Girl) would sometimes go to their room to shed a few tears. Lightning Lad was discreetly one of their number, and only Kell-el – who, along with Superman, had refused point-blank to return to their own time until Saturn Girl woke up (or, though no one mentioned it often, died) – knew about it, having stumbled into Lightning Lad's room one day to find him tearing up. Knowing how he felt about Saturn Girl, however, Kell-el said nothing about it and had instead offered a few awkward words of comfort.

Since the entire Legion could not remain in Legion HQ indefinitely, and they couldn't rely on the Subs forever, Cosmic Boy had put all recovered Legionnaires back on active duty in their respective cruisers. He himself vacated the place, saying the suspense was too much for him and he needed something to do. He did, however, leave explicit instructions to inform him the moment anything happened, with severe retribution for any who didn't comply. Also, the few Legionnaires who were still recovering had either returned to their homes or were staying in Legion HQ. Now, only Lightning Lad, Dream Girl, Brainy, Shrinking Violet, Timber Wolf, Kell-el, Phantom Girl, and Chameleon Boy remained in Legion HQ with Saturn Girl.

Another week passed, leaving the Legionnaires more worried than before. With every day that passed, it became less likely that Saturn Girl would ever wake up. Brainy had now reduced her chances to 0.07%. He had been unwilling to shift from his original assessment of 3.9%, but he had been forced to acknowledge reality. As time went by, he, the intelligent, logical being, skeptical of anything not explainable by science, found himself hoping desperately that the "Fates" mentioned in the prophecy would allow Saturn Girl to live.

It was only when he was examining Saturn Girl several days later, approximately one month after the battle with Brainiac 1.0, that Brainy first saw a change. Disbelievingly, he stared at the monitor that recorded Saturn Girl's vitals. He double- and triple-checked the levels, and the result was the same. He looked down at Saturn Girl, slipped his hand into hers, and asked softly, "Can you hear me?" He had done this several times before, but he had never gotten a reaction – until today.

Saturn Girl's fingers contracted so slightly he couldn't see it, but his hand, with the improved tactile response that came with being human, felt it. Brainy felt like doing something he never thought he would even think of doing – he felt like whooping for joy and doing a little jig. Instead he bent down and whispered, "I'll be right back", and dashed out of the sick bay to the main room, where most of the Legionnaires in Headquarters were.

"What are you so worked up about?" asked Timber Wolf, instantly alert as Brainy came rushing in.

"It's Saturn Girl, isn't it?" Dream Girl perceived, sitting up straight. "What happened?"

Panting and gasping a little, Brainy announced joyously, "Her brain activity levels…they've increased – dramatically."

He paused while waiting for his teammates to react.

"What?" exclaimed Chameleon Boy incredulously, jumping to his feet. "That's great!"

"Does this mean she'll make a full recovery?" asked Phantom Girl.

"Almost certainly", replied Brainy. "I can tell you one thing, though – I'm not worried about her brain activity anymore. She's officially out of the coma – it's just the normal healing trance now."

"Whoop!" cried Cham, then he covered his mouth with his hands. "Heh – oops. Guess I got carried away."

"Where's Lightning Lad?" asked Brainy. The Winathian was the only Legionnaire not in the room.

"He's in his room", Shrinking Violet replied. "Shall I tell him?"

"Yes", Brainy agreed. "We'll let Cosmic Boy and the others know."

Violet nodded and made her way to Lightning Lad's room. She knocked on the door and waited.

After a few seconds, Lightning Lad opened the door. "Violet? What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing", said Shrinking Violet casually. "I mean, unless you count the fact that Saturn Girl's now out of her coma…"

"What?" Lightning Lad exclaimed. "Are you serious?"

Violet grinned. "Yep. Brainy just told us and – hey!" she exclaimed as Lightning Lad zipped past her. "Wait for me!"

* * *

"I told you to call me at once – at once!" Cosmic Boy was saying on the screen in the main room. "And instead you call me last? What happened? What's going on?"

"Sorry, we were saving the worst for last", said Chameleon Boy.

Cosmic Boy froze. "The worst? What do you mean?" he asked apprehensively.

Kell-el elbowed Chameleon Boy, evicting a startled exclamation. "What Cham means to say", he said, frowning at the Durlan, "is that we were saving you for last, because Saturn Girl's out of her coma."

"Really?" inquired Cosmic Boy, not believing it completely at first, while exclamations of surprise and delight from the other Legionnaires with him echoed from behind and beside him.

"Really", Dream Girl affirmed with a smile.

"Really", echoed Lightning Lad as he came in, beaming, followed by Shrinking Violet.

* * *

**_A/N: Ah, yes, happiness at last. But as you can guess, the story's not over yet. How could I end it here? No, there's one more chapter to go, and _**_then **will it be ended. But for now...Thanks to **The Violet Rose, Mirror's Mirage, Devilbunny, TheEclipse, **and **DangerZone **for reviewing!**_

**Disclaimer: Oh, please, I'd love to, I'd really, really love to, but sadly, I really, really don't.**


	22. Looking to the Future

**Chapter 22**

Saturn Girl's condition improved steadily over the next several days. Within a week, she was completely out of danger, to the relief and delight of all the Legionnaires. Now it was just a matter of time before she finally woke up.

As fate had it, Lightning Lad was the only one in the room when it happened. He visited her that morning, and was talking to her about how everyone was just waiting for her to get up.

"We all miss you", he said to her, taking her hand. "But you take your time, okay? So you'll be completely better. At least you're out of danger now. Brainy says you'll probably make a full recovery." He paused and sighed. If she'd been awake, he was sure her telepathic powers would have picked up his thoughts about how much he wanted her to wake up, even though he'd said she could take her time. Beneath his hand, her fingers moved and he smiled.

"Yeah, I know you can hear me. Don't worry. You don't have to tell me that."

Then he noticed her whole body stirring, and her eyelids began to flutter. Lightning Lad felt his heartbeat race as he kept his eyes on Saturn Girl's face. Was she finally going to wake up?

Saturn Girl's eyelids slowly flickered open, revealing her deep pink irises. She blinked a few times before she finally focused on Lightning Lad.

"Garth." She said it softly, and there was no hint of surprise in it – only contentment and gladness.

"Hey", he said, as he smiled even wider than before.

Saturn Girl, with Lightning Lad's assistance, slowly propped herself up to a sitting position, leaning against the wall that the head of her bed was against. She turned her head as she took in her surroundings. "What happened?"

Lightning Lad was only too happy to answer – he could finally have a conversation with her. "You beat Brainiac", he told her.

"I did?" She sounded surprised.

Lightning Lad stiffened slightly – was she forgetting again? "You don't remember?"

"After I released that force field, everything went black", Saturn Girl said. "The next thing I remember is Brainy asking me if I could hear him."

"Oh." Lightning Lad relaxed. "Well, your force field basically disintegrated Brainiac. You really did defeat him. I told you you would."

Saturn Girl smiled. "Yes, you did."

They said nothing for a while, each enjoying the other's company – and each wondering how to broach the same subject. Eventually, Saturn Girl was the one who spoke.

"So…before the battle…" she began.

"Ah." Lightning Lad scratched at his neck with his free hand. "Um…"

Saturn Girl smiled again. "I feel the same way, you know."

"Really?" said Lightning Lad in relief and delight. Then he frowned as he realized what she'd said. "Wait, how'd you know how I felt? You didn't read my mind, did you?" He covered his mouth. "Or did it accidentally slip out while I was talking?"

"Kell-el told me", Saturn Girl admitted.

"Kell-el did _what_?" exclaimed Lightning Lad, aghast.

"He was in here the other day, and he 'accidentally' let it slip."

"I'm going to kill him."

Saturn Girl couldn't help a laugh – and then she winced as her hand went to her side.

"You okay?" Lightning Lad asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My ribs haven't completely healed yet." She returned her gaze to him. "But like you said, I'll make a full recovery."

"Actually, Brainy said that."

"Makes no difference." She leaned toward him and he leaned forward, and they both met halfway as they kissed.

"Caught red-handed!" cried a gleeful voice from the entrance. Startled, they broke apart.

"Cham!" Lightning Lad exclaimed. His gaze shifted to the other Legionnaires who had come in with Chameleon Boy. "Uh…"

"I knew it!" Phantom Girl said jubilantly, pointing her finger at the couple. "You two are in loooove."

Shrinking Violet snorted as she giggled, Dream Girl grinned, Kell-el and Timber Wolf looked smug, and even Brainy was smiling.

Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl looked sheepish, but then they, as well as the others, burst out laughing.

"Ow", said Saturn Girl, her hand at her ribs.

Brainy made his way over to her and examined her with several devices. "Vitals look good, most of your injuries are healed, and your ribs will be fine in a few more days. _But_", he added, "you should not jump right back into active duty. It will probably take a few more weeks for you to completely regain your strength. I'm sure Cosmic Boy will insist on putting you off-duty for at least several days."

"It's a deal", Saturn Girl agreed.

"Speaking of Cosmic Boy, someone really should tell him what's been going on", said Timber Wolf. He glanced suggestively at Kell-el, one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, no", said Kell-el firmly, holding his hands up. "No way. Have someone else do it. I'm not missing out on this reunion just because I'm from the 41st century."

"Come on, Kell, it's the least you can do after you spilled the beans about Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl", prodded Dream Girl.

"You _what_?" exclaimed Lightning Lad. "You didn't."

"He did", Timber Wolf affirmed. "The whole nine yards."

"Kell!"

"It seems I've got something to do", said Kell-el with a grin, backing out the door. "I'm going to contact Cosmic Boy."

"When exactly did he tell you?" inquired Lightning Lad, glancing after Kell-el as the latter left.

"Just about twenty minutes ago", said Phantom Girl. "He saw Saturn Girl was awake with his X-ray vision, and he told us. We all wanted to come here, of course, but he convinced us to wait a bit – while you two got re-acquainted."

"He saw the whole thing?" Lightning Lad exclaimed, bolting upright.

"Just the beginning", Brainy assured him. "He respected the rest of your privacy and instead told us all about your confession." Brainy was positively smirking.

"Well", said Saturn Girl, "I guess we owe him the extra time. We might never have gotten around to it if you guys had just come barging in."

"Man, it's really good to have you back", said Cham fervently as he pulled up a chair beside her bed. "Lightning Lad was a total bore without you, even after you came out of your coma."

"I was not", declared Lightning Lad indignantly.

"Were so."

"So were you!"

"So was everyone", said Dream Girl. "Although things did lighten up considerably after you responded to Brainy", she added to Saturn Girl.

Kell-el returned just then. "Get ready, guys", he warned. "In about" – he checked his watch – "twenty-four hours, we're going to be swamped with the rest of the entire Legion, and the Subs'll probably be arriving any minute now."

"Yikes", said Shrinking Violet.

"Yikes", Chameleon Boy agreed.

* * *

Kell-el's prediction proved accurate. Several minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and Chameleon Boy opened it to admit the entire Legion of Substitute Heroes. Over the course of the next twenty hours, the rest of the Legion landed in Legion HQ in their respective teams, so that six to eight Legionnaires would arrive at one time. And of course, all wanted to see Saturn Girl at once, but Dream Girl firmly allowed only a slow trickle of visitors, spacing intervals between the visits for Saturn Girl to rest.

By the end of another week, Saturn Girl was completely healed and was out of sick bay, but she was still off-duty, due to Cosmic Boy's vociferous and insistent protests against it. He and Saturn Girl had finally agreed on a compromise – she would be returned to active duty after the annual Legion election, which was only three days away.

Three days passed quickly, and the morning of the election arrived. This election was especially unique as well as a rare occasion because all the Legion members were present in Legion HQ for it, and even the Subs had been invited.

"All right, all right, settle down", ordered Cosmic Boy as the Legionnaires filed into the main room. When they had all quieted down, he cleared his throat. "Right, we've got some business to take care of before we cast the votes. Firstly, we're pleased to welcome back Saturn Girl to active Legion duty."

Everyone clapped as Saturn Girl smiled.

"Secondly, we'd like to thank Superman and Kell-el, who came here from their different time periods to help us, as well as the Legion of Substitute Heroes, whose assistance was welcome and needed", said Cosmic Boy.

Another round of applause.

"Third", continued Cosmic Boy, who was really getting rolling, "we'd like to officially welcome Brainiac 5 back into our ranks."

Cheers and more claps erupted.

"And finally, we can now celebrate the fact that Brainiac 1.0 is now finally gone forever, thanks to Saturn Girl."

The applause and cheering was the loudest so far.

Cosmic Boy looked around, satisfied. "Now that that's settled, will everyone please come up to the computer one by one to cast your votes."

"What about us?" inquired Porcupine Pete.

"Er…" Cosmic Boy sounded uncertain. "Well…just this once, I supposed, since you helped out so much with Brainiac 1.0…"

The Subs cheered.

"Yes, well…" Cosmic Boy cleared his throat. "One by one now, please."

The Subs and Legionnaires lined up in front of the computer, each standing an appropriate distance away from the one who was voting – it was a closed vote, after all.

When everyone was done voting, Brainy pushed them all away from the computer and sat in front of it to wait for the votes to be tabulated. He tapped his fingers near the keyboard as he waited.

After a few minutes, the computer bleeped. "The votes have been counted", Brainy announced, looking at his teammates. "Our new leader is…Saturn Girl!"

The Legionnaires burst into several rounds of applause and cheers while Saturn Girl looked around in surprise.

Brainy crossed his arms over his chest and smiled smugly. "You defeated Brainiac 1.0 and didn't expect to be elected leader because of it?" he said once the noise had died down.

Saturn Girl shook her head and Brainy grinned.

"Well, that's exactly why we picked you", he said. "You won by a landslide. Every single Legionnaire except yourself voted for you. Even the Subs cast you as their candidate."

"Congratulations", Lightning Lad said. By now the whole Legion and the Subs knew of his and Saturn Girl's romance.

"Thanks…wow", said Saturn Girl. "I don't know what to say."

"How about, you'll be a good leader?" teased Invisible Kid.

Saturn Girl smiled. "You can count on it."

* * *

"What are you doing here again, Tinya?" inquired Winema Wazzo two days later as she came into the Official Library of the United Planets, where Phantom Girl was once again browsing through the prophecies.

"Just a hunch, Mom", Phantom Girl replied. "I thought it might be a good idea to see if anything extra might be revealed now that Brainiac's gone."

"I see." Winema looked as if she was about to say something, but instead she sighed and left, leaving her daughter with a particular scroll in her hand.

Phantom Girl unrolled the scroll and her eyes were immediately drawn to a specific sentence.

"Oh, no."

* * *

"Okay, let me get this straight", said Chameleon Boy. "You found this passage in the prophecy which says there's an even bigger threat coming along?" He, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Phantom Girl, Chemical King, and Matter-Eater Lad were the only ones left in Legion HQ, as the Subs had returned to their own headquarters, and Saturn Girl had assigned the other Legionnaires to space patrol based on her new system of assignments.

"Unfortunately, yes", said Phantom Girl.

"What's going to happen now?" asked Chemical King.

"The same thing that always happens", said Saturn Girl. "We'll prepare for this and face the villain head on. From what I gather, it'll be a while before anything happens, so we'll use the time to do as much as we can to get ourselves ready. When this villain finally makes an appearance, we'll be ready."

* * *

_**A/N: And...the end. Of this installment of the story, not of the entire tale. No, this is not over yet, so take courage in the fact. Yii, that sounds like something out of an adventure/war movie. But yes, there is more to the story than this alone. For those of you who haven't read it, my previous story, **The Threat of the Ruby, **is actually the sequel to this. You can find it under the crossover section of **Teen Titans **and **Legion of Superheroes**. And I am currently working on the final installment of this series, which will be the sequel to **The Threat of the Ruby.** Thank you to **Devilbunny, TheEclipse, DangerZone, Mirror's Mirage, The Violet Rose, **and **Krazyreviewer **for reviewing, thank you to everyone who reviews on this chapter, and thank you to any who might review this story from now on. I apologize if I am not able to thank you personally in a chapter because you reviewed too late, but know that I am always grateful, and I shall try to reply to your review. To all my reviewers, loyal or not, if possible, I will send you a sneak preview of the sequel about a week before I post it. Thank you once again. Adios.**_

**Disclaimer: For the final time on this particular story, no, I do not own anything.**


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